Mewtwo, Escaped
by Gema J. Gall
Summary: FINISHED A female Mewtwo has escaped from Giovanni and is trying to find her place in the world.
1. Escaped

Pokemon Fan Fiction  
Mewtwo, Escaped  
By: Gema J. Gall  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, I wish I did. I also don't own this  
plot. It was originally Tiffany's (one of many). She took it down  
without finishing it. So I am finishing it. Of course, you have to  
deal with my few re-writes. = telepathic communication. Here were  
go!  
  
Orange and pink streaked across the horizon. This caused eerie  
shadows across the eves of the only building that mattered to Cole at  
that moment (Thanks to a friend for this name. I don't like the  
original name, Brian, because the only Brians I have ever known were  
mean to me.) Cole cowered below it, fully aware of the rumors the  
building had inspired. He had traveled long and far, and had battled  
hard. And now, Cole was about to face his final trial. He glanced  
behind him, looking for moral support, but there was none. He ran his  
hands through his sky blue hair and took a deep breath, ready to enter  
the Viridian City gym. Someone had to face it.... if it was only a  
normal gym!  
  
"What is your business here?" a guard demanded as he approached. The  
guard blocked the entrance with his ornate spear.. Cole tried to  
respond, but the words got caught in his throat. So, he opened his  
denim jacket to show his seven other badges. The guard nodded and let  
him in.  
  
"So, another child dares to challenge me," a voice sneered from the  
balcony above.  
  
"Yes," replied Cole, simply. He was fifteen, but he didn't bother to  
correct the gym leader  
  
"So silent," the voice taunted. "Perhaps you aren't as confident as  
the other losers that pass through here. We may as well get it over  
with. I assume you have heard the rumors about my...... unusual  
pokemon." Cole nodded. Everyone had heard the rumors. "I assure  
you, the rumors are not unfounded. Use as many pokemon as you'd like.  
I only need one." A Persian rubbed against his legs. The gym leader  
snapped his fingers and a door opened below. A figure slowly stepped  
out.  
  
Cole gasped. How many times had he seen that same armor on the news?  
How many trainers have told their devastating tales of the super-  
pokemon that stood before him? It had killed in rages that had begun  
in scenes just like this. It was not feared as an unbeatable pokemon,  
but as an unbeatable evil. All Cole could do was stare at the glowing  
violet eyes beneath the helmet. He began to regret entering the gym.  
  
"I can't do this," Cole thought in a panic, "But there is no getting  
out of it now." He closed his eyes, trying to summon his courage.  
The pokemon watched him witch curiosity. Cole selected a poke-ball.  
His Growlithe, his strongest pokemon. Even then,  
the match was ridiculously one sided.  
  
"Is that the best you have boy?" sneered the gym leader. "Mewtwo,  
attack!"  
  
The hesitation did not go unnoticed. But then Cole's Growlithe was  
picked up and thrown into the nearest wall. The gym leader chuckled,  
but the Mewtwo remained silent.  
BOOM! An explosion echoed through the gym. It was followed by the  
sound of panicking footsteps.  
  
"Boss, we need you!" The gym leader gritted his teeth and swore.  
These "accidents" seemed to be happening more and more often.  
  
"Mewtwo, finish them," he ordered before he left.  
  
The minute he was gone the evil aura around the pokemon faded. Cole  
gaped at the sudden transformation.  
  
{You have to help get me out of here!} the pokemon begged. Cole was  
even more shocked. The voice was not sinister and evil like he  
imagined, it sound almost.....female.  
"What?! You.... But..... Why do you need me?" stammered Cole. The  
pokemon raised a tri-fingered paw.  
  
{Will you cooperate, or do I have to take over your mind?} the Mewtwo  
asked. That was when they both heard footsteps above them. The  
pokemon glanced around, then opened Cole's jacket psychically. In an  
instant the armor crashed to the ground. The pokemon used Minimize  
and shot into Cole's shirt pocket. Cole panicked and ran, forgetting  
about the earth badge completely.  
  
Cole raced through the streets of Viridian City, fleeing the gym, but  
never knowing why he did. Perhaps it was Mewtwo's desire to escape  
that had driven him. Houses rushed by. People griped as he ran into  
them, but Cole did not stop. He had no idea how long he ran, but it  
had to be a while, judging by the burning in his legs.  
  
When he finally stopped he realized he was in the Viridian Forest.  
The tranquil forest at night soothed his nerves a little. Cole shed  
his jacket, almost dropping in on his Growlithe, who had been running  
with him. Cole clutched his pokemon for security. He was afraid of  
the powerful pokemon that was now hiding in his pocket.  
  
For a second Cole thought he was crazy. The forest was so serene, and  
Growlithe was a sign that everything was normal. Cole began to think  
that he had imagined the whole thing. After all, Why would Mewtwo  
sound female? But he was not so lucky. A tiny Mewtwo slipped out of  
his pocket and returned to regular height, before shooting across the  
horizon.  
  
AN/ Thanks to Mystic Mewtwo who reported the chapter mix up! 


	2. A Plea for Help

AN/ To those of you wondering what happened, (Zhen Lin), check the  
first paragraph in my bio.  
  
AN2/ FF.N seems to be determined to make my life miserable. It is now deleting anything inside , if those even show up. So I had to change the telepathic communication symbol to {Talk}, which really bothers me. Grrrrrrrrr. And, as always, please read, review, and enjoy! (  
  
Cole breathed a sigh of relief, he had not realized he had been  
holding his breath. He watched the pokemon flee with his eyes. A  
huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Cole was an unusual  
pokemon trainer. Most trainers his age longed for adventure. Cole  
was happy with the comfortable pace he had chosen. He was not at all  
comfortable with this sudden turn of events.  
  
He liked the scenery that forever ambled by when he traveled. He  
liked his friends, he knew them. Cole liked the battles that would  
never be fatal, although he was worried that all of that may have  
changed. Cole knew things would have changed with the last badge, but  
never imagined they would change so much! It was like being hijacked  
by Bigfoot, or some other impossibility!  
  
"It's gone!" it final dawned on Cole. "Pigeotto, Rattata, Butterfree,  
come out! Let's celebrate!"  
  
Growlithe quickly made a campfire and Cole broke out his traveling  
food. There was plenty of Pokechow, leftover pizza, and cold soda. A  
feast for an traveler. Cole normally saved these delicacies for a  
landmark victory, but getting rid of that nightmare was reason enough  
to celebrate.  
  
It was late in the night when Cole fell asleep. The fire burned low.  
Growlithe came over and cuddled up next to Cole, falling asleep there  
as well. The other pokemon had been recalled into their poke-balls  
minutes before.  
  
A twig snapped, waking Cole from his slumber. His eyes flew open,  
then he blinked again in disbelief. In the eerie moonlight stood a  
six foot tall creature, the one that Cole had dreamed of. Or was it a  
dream? It's build was that unlike any other creature on the planet.  
There was no mistaken the cat like features, and the slight human  
form, with violet eyes that belong to neither. Cole heart beat  
quickened, but he was too tired to scream.  
  
{....Thank you for assisting me....} the creature stammered awkwardly,  
as if not knowing to behave around him, like it wanted to be polite  
but didn't know how. {It is good you chose a secluded area. They are  
not likely to find me, here.}  
  
"Not as likely as they are to find my dead body," Cole thought  
grimly. If he had been paying more objective attention, he might have  
noticed that the Mewtwo was more afraid that he was. But not afraid  
of him, afraid of familiar watchful eyes. It, too, jumped at the  
sound of a snapping twig. Cole suddenly burst into action. He  
grabbed his backpack and began to rummage through it, pulling out a  
Super Potion.  
  
"I should have know! I should have been prepared!" Cole scolded  
himself. "But this was too unpredictable! Growlithe, please feel  
better, fast!" Growlithe growled, as if knowing what Cole was  
thinking.  
  
{Oh, do you plan on battling me? Fine,} said the pokemon with a  
sarcastic smirk. {Trees work as well as walls, but are a little more  
difficult to hit.}  
  
"What do you want?! Why don't you just leave me alone?!" Cole  
demanded. The Mewtwo seemed taken aback by his frustration.  
  
"He is not listening," realized the pokemon, "He does not hear me at  
all. But it is imperative that I get through to this one in  
particular. I might not have another chance. And yet, he is overcome  
with fear, but why? What could I have possibly done?"  
  
*Flashback*  
  
"She looks sad," said one of the scientists who had come to watch  
Mewtwo's 'birth.' There were only two to record every bit of  
information, the original number had long since dwindled. These two  
had their worked cut out for them. Their pens never seemed to stop  
scribbling notes, for her specie, if it could be called that, was  
still new to the world.  
  
"Sad," she thought, "you have no idea." She sat in inky darkness and  
sanitation.  
  
"What is this 'she' business?" asked the other.  
  
"It was created from the DNA of a female Mewtwo, just like the boss  
wanted. I'd say that makes 'it' a 'she.' And I said she looks sad.  
What do you think she is thinking?" answered the first.  
  
"About the odd nature of my existence, about my purpose, my place in  
the universe," she answered silently. "About what part these humans  
play in who I am, beyond this lab. About how good it would feel to  
have the sun on my face again." Again? That was a very realistic  
dream, if it was a dream at all. "I wonder if they know about it. I  
wonder if they know what I am thinking, right now." She was tempted  
to fall back into a deep sleep again, if only for a minute. But if  
she fell asleep she may not ever wake up, and her life hadn't even  
begun yet.  
  
"Huff! It's not thinking anything," protested the second scientist,  
oblivious to her awareness. "For heaven's sake, it is a lab  
experiment! You have to keep from getting emotional attached. This  
things is deadly, remember?"  
  
"Deadly?" the pokemon clone wondered. "Am I deadly?  
  
"Didn't they tell you what happened to the crew that worked on the  
first Mewtwo?" continued the scientist, unaware of the silent  
question.  
  
"There was one before me?" she wondered, still unheard. She turned  
her violet eyes towards them. But when she saw them she shivered and  
shrank back.  
  
"....Yes," the first was saying in a monotone voice. "They said no  
one could identify the bodies afterward."  
  
"They said," the other added. "That he blew up a lab, this lab before  
we rebuilt it. He just stood there and watched them all burn to  
death!"  
  
"What?" wondered the silent listener. "Why would he do something that  
extreme? He must have been very desperate and miserable, even more  
than I am!" Suddenly she was filled with sorrow and dread for the  
dead, and for the plight of that secret predecessor.  
  
"No compassion," the second scientist thought to himself. Truth be  
told, he lost his brother in that explosion. "That is the one thing  
we can't create, a heart."  
  
She turned her thoughts inward and focused on the courage she had  
hidden inside. She found peace and strength there as well. She may  
have not been created to have a soul or a heart, but they were their.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
Suddenly it dawned on her.  
  
{Oh, you are afraid because you think I am my predecessor; the Mewtwo  
that killed some of your kind,} she stated.  
  
"What?!" gasped Cole. "You're not! There's more than one?!" His  
head was now spinning. "How stupid can these people be?!" he thought.  
"After all the trouble the first one caused. Even the guy in  
Jurassic Park didn't try again!" Then another thought dawned on him.  
"How does Giovanni keep his gym license if no one can ever win? What  
do I have to do, make my own super powered pokemon?"  
  
{I am the second,} she explained. There are four now, but I am the  
only female. Giovanni thought that a female Mewtwo would be less  
violent. I guess he was right, I haven't killed anyone yet. But I  
don't think that has anything to do with my gender....} She trailed  
off, as if toying with an idea in her mind.  
  
"So, you aren't going to kill me?" asked Cole nervously. Despite the  
severity of the comment, Cole felt his terror fizzle away into a kind  
of fascination. This paved the way for what came next.  
  
"Of course not," she chuckled to herself, "I still need his  
assistance."  
  
"What will you do now?" asked Cole, to fill the silence. She thought  
of an answer, but there was none. She had never thought her flight  
through. Her only idea had been to flee the first chance she got.  
  
{I do not know,} she admitted. {What are you going to do?} Cole  
crossed his arms as his face showed anger.  
  
"Where am I going?!" he yelled. "I was heading to the Indigo League  
to become a Pokemon Master, but thanks to you, I can't even get my  
last badge!"  
  
{That could not be avoided,} she pointed out. {If I did not battle,  
one of the other two Mewtwos would have, and there is no way your puny  
Growlithe could have beaten them either.} Growlithe growled in  
response.  
  
"Huff!" protested Cole.  
  
{Well,} she thought out-loud, {Wherever you decide to go on your  
journey, I will have to follow, for the time being.} Cole sweat-  
dropped and fell backwards, anime style. This Mewtwo had just  
insisted that she was going to stick around, and he wasn't even sure  
if she wasn't going to kill him yet! She saw his reaction and  
explained.  
  
{I need to stay low, and you are about as low as they get.} Then she  
realized what she had just said. "That did not come out right," she  
thought. Her eyes grew desperate, and yet passionate at the same  
time. Cole recognized it as the look she had when Giovanni left the  
room.  
  
"Maybe she was the one who caused the 'accident,' just so she could  
escape," he thought.  
  
{What I mean,} she continued to explain, {is that Team Rocket realizes  
I am missing. They are searching the entire state, even as we speak.  
You see, I am very valuable....asset to whoever claims me. And I will  
not be claimed by them again. They will make it impossible for me to  
escape, next time.}  
  
"But, didn't the first one escape twice?" asked Cole.  
  
{Yes, but they have become much more resourceful since then,} she  
explained. Suddenly she got serious, dead serious. {Do you know what  
it is like?} Cole shook his head. He was so surprised by her  
attitude change he could not speak. {I will show you.} She barely  
whispered the last part. A shadow clutched his heart as Mewtwo let  
him into her memories.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
Wires and cables descended to the platform that she had been ordered  
to stand on. It was cold, covered with an impersonal darkness. There  
they adhered t her body, especially her sensitive temples.  
Immediately the machines began to beep in time to the will of science,  
the will that limited by the very fact that it had created her. The  
tiny pinpoints could be ignored, they were merely the carriers of a  
much more ill effect.  
  
Mewtwos are psychic. It was rooted in the origin from Mew. Humans  
who noted the potential 'refined' it. By doing this her creators  
thought they had the right to control this mysterious power, even to  
the point of harming the owner,  
  
It didn't matter to them that those stinging electrons reached her  
brain, temporarily seizing it, binding it in a painful mental straight-  
jacket. Such psychic power was too dangerous to leave alone for an  
extend length of time. That was the mistake they made with her  
predecessor. After all, she was just a pokemon, just a tool to be  
manipulated.  
  
{What are you doing to me?!} she screamed. {It is my power, you can't  
take it away from me!} She writhed in agony, desperately trying to  
fight the choke-hold they had put her in. Her eyes glowed and sparks  
flew from the wires as she tried to over charged them, but she got no  
other results.  
  
Giovanni knew the dangers of provoking a Mewtwo's anger. He had  
nearly been killed in a scene very much like this one.  
  
"These restrictions are only temporary," he said coldly. "I have need  
of your powers in the morning.  
  
{Is that all I am good for?!} she cried as she struggled against the  
restraints. {LET ME GO! I have a life an a soul of my own! You cannot  
hold me prisoner like this!} Giovanni chuckled. She was like a caged  
beats, pacing in her cage, and that was all she was.  
  
"I gave you life," he snapped "You owe it to me. As far as a soul  
goes, you have no soul; you aren't human. You are just a pokemon, and  
a clone at that."  
  
She could not believe him, she would not believe him! The world was  
going fuzzy as reality and imagination swirled in her mind. Her  
mental defenses were shattered, the electrons were shattering her  
barriers into a thousand pieces. It was enough to drive anyone insane.  
  
{No, I do not blame the first Mewtwo for killing those humans,} she  
snapped, disoriented. {If they were all like you, they deserved to  
die! I do not think he was evil at all! It is a pity he did not kill  
you while he was at it!} Her predecessor had escaped in a moment like  
this, but Team Rocket had planned ahead and she was trapped.  
  
The electron charged wires restricted her mind. Handcuffs, like cords  
restricting her body, which by itself had not outstanding strength.  
  
{It is not right, it is not fair!} she cried over and over again,  
practically sobbing. She was getting tired and no long aware of what  
she was saying. Giovanni rubbed his fingers along his temples, as if  
suffering from a headache.  
  
"Shut-up!" he yelled. "Get out of my head! You, at the computer, turn  
off its telepathy before I go crazy!" With a few strokes to a  
keyboard, the super clone was muted and completely defenseless. The  
only thing she could do was retreat into some untouched corner of her  
mind and cry in pain.  
  
The Team Rocket leader smirked as she collapsed, both physically and  
mentally. He motioned to the nearby scientists.  
  
"We have broken the female. There is still time to tend to the  
others," he left, the second scientist followed him. The first  
lingered over his clipboard. He looked back at the collapsed form  
before following, a look of pity crossed his face.  
  
"She may be stronger than we realize," he thought before he left.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
Cole felt every agonizing moment that she had been forced to endure.  
He saw every dark detail with horrifying clarity. When the memories  
ended, he could only collapsed on the forest floor, gasping for air.  
  
He nodded. He would help her. No living creature deserved to go  
through that. And he would see that she never would, ever again. 


	3. The Swiftwind

Night passed slowly and painfully. But it was a bearable price to pay for the brilliance of dawn. The morning sun crept over the horizon, spilling its luminescent rays upon the sleeping landscape. The world shook of the night's shadows with the morning songs. The clouds caught the light, painting the sky with more colors than a painter's pallet.  
  
Mewtwo had seen such a thing only once before, in a dreamy vision she had had before her 'birth.' She watched the sun rise in awe. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. No morning had passed when she did not think of this moment. Nothing could match her joy now. It was a joy rooted in one word, freedom.  
  
Cole stirred in his sleep. She sighed as she thought of the thousand possibilities her future had. Following him around was certainly not appealing, especially with total freedom within reach. But what other option was there? Being caught by Team Rocket, and never again seeing another sunrise? She would play along, at least for now.  
  
she greeted. She wondered, "That is something that humans say to greet each other, right?"  
  
she sighed as she glanced back to the horizon.  
  
Cole mumbled his response, still amazed that that he was exchanging pleasantries with a pokemon. Even the most empathetic pokemon trainer would hesitate in a situation like this.  
  
"But this pokemon is different," he reminded himself. "She was meant to speak, and to be spoken to. It makes you think that you were talking to a human, almost....except for the whole telepathic thing.... And, she is still here, which means last night must have really happened." He sighed at the thousands of possibilities his future had, now. Having her following him around was certainly not appealing, especially considering the track record of her predecessor. But, what other option was there?  
  
"If...." Cole said, forming a shaky idea. "If, you need to 'lay low,' then my sister and brother-in-law have a motor home parked about two miles from here. That is where I am heading...." He secretly prayed that she would not except, but he knew full well that he was not lucky. The previous night had proven that.  
  
she smiled. It had taken her a moment to place a motor home. She had heard it described by several Rocket grunts once before. "Then again," she thought, "walking on foot would not be so bad, if he always takes forgotten trails like this one." She glanced at the steadily rising sun. "It looks like I am going to be seeing a lifetime of sunrises, after this one...."  
  
Cole broke camp and began walking, Growlithe by his side. Mewtwo followed, somewhat nervously, even though it had all been her idea. She remembered the images of loyal battlers, trudging into the gym, knowing they would be beaten. It was strange, the relationship that developed between people and pokemon. She had never understood any of it, she had no desire to. The allure of freedom would always prevent her from becoming just someone's battler.  
  
she voiced her thoughts and concerns. Cole froze in fear. I am not your pokemon. I will fight when I want to fight, if I want to fight. I will do as I please. You will not try to control me. From now on, I am my own master! It felt good to say that.  
  
Cole secretly admitted it would be nice to have this super-pokemon on his belt instead of in his pocket. Commanding a powerful pokemon like that was every trainer's secret fantasy. But now that Cole was face-to-face with the opportunity, he dare not try. This very idea, after seeing what she had been through, made him blush with shame. He nodded in agreement, surprising the pokemon very much. The continued in silence.  
  
Later on, as if reacting to something Cole could not hear, Mewtwo shot into Cole's jacket pocket. This would become a habit for the fugitive pokemon, who was always nervous of capture. But this Cole could not get used to. He had only ever carried pokemon in poke-balls. It also didn't seem right to carry around a living creature like that. Somehow, though, she didn't seem to mind. After experiencing so much heartlessness in humanity, it was refreshing to hear his muffled heartbeat in the folds of his jacket. But that was one thing Cole would never know about her.  
  
In the distance loomed a cluttered Swiftwind, like some strange hippie van. It was the symbol of the strange reality Mewtwo had fallen into. Cole's peers and travel-mates were the teenagers who were playing house. They were too old for tents and sleeping bags, but too young for the bonds of mortgage and a picket fence. Cole shivered as he re-thought of the recent events. Mewtwo had win his sympathy by showing him her memories, but they were a different story all together.  
  
"The badge....." thought Cole regretfully as he approached.  
  
Presently a sandal clad teenage boy raced out. He had black hair and his clothing matched the era of the van. A girl the same age came out with him. She had blue hair, like Cole's but hers was a little darker. She had on jeans and a spaghetti strapped shirt.  
  
Mewtwo assumed that these two must be the sister and brother-in-law that Cole has mentioned.  
  
"Dude! You are back!" greeted the boy.  
  
"Cole!" smiled the girl. She raced forward to embrace him, but was thrown slightly back by an unseen force. This 'force' did not want to be smashed between the two of them. She looked a little shaken, but dismissed it as 'major static electricity.' Cole looked away, knowing the truth.  
  
"Hail the conquering hero!" smiled the boy.  
  
"So, Mr. Future-Pokemon-Master," said the girl . "Tell us about it! Was it a glorious victory? Did your pokemon run his into the ground? Come on, come on! Show us the badge of honor!"  
  
They were so excited. For the first time since this ordeal began, Mewtwo felt guilty.  
  
"It couldn't have been helped," she thought with regret. "It seems so sad to disappoint them, over such a silly sport!"  
  
"Ummm, the earth badge," stammered Cole. "That is kind of a long story...." He stuttered, he sweat-dropped, he debated with himself about how much he should tell them. "Why do they have to be so happy, so hopeful!" thought Cole in exasperation. He was tempted to scoop the story out of his pocket and get it over with.  
  
"Oh, no...." moaned the sister.  
  
"That doesn't sound so good...." muttered the brother-in-law. They lead the down-trodden trainer inside. He took off his jacket and threw it into the closet, then peeled off his shoes. It was routine for him, he didn't even think about. But that was not how his secret passenger saw it. Whatever guilt she was feeling was quickly forgotten.  
  
"Well.....," Cole continued to stammer. "Giovanni was a lot hard than I expected. He was tough..... Tougher than what they say about him....."  
  
"Giovanni! Tough!" thought Mewtwo, slightly bitter. "Giovanni didn't do anything! Typical humans....."  
  
"Crystal," he said to his sister. "I didn't even stand a chance! Do you know, do you have any idea what pokemon he used?!" Neither Crystal or her husband, XXXX, were pokemon trainers, but it was common knowledge what pokemon Giovanni used. All that a trainer could hope for was that he would leave someone else in charge for the day. His sister gaped in semi-mock horror.  
  
"The whole thing took less than ten seconds. What am I supposed to do?! I know you guys were planning on my going to the league next week....."  
  
"Oh, never mind that!" exclaimed Crystal. "Are your pokemon OK? Here, let them out and I'll get you all something to eat. Did you leave any scrambled eggs, Kyle? You didn't eat that leftover pizza, Cole?! I told you it was going bad!" The boys laughed.  
  
"Laughter is a good thing," thought Mewtwo, relaxing about three hairs.  
  
Kyle recovered and mused weakly over the recent loss. He wasn't a trainer, in fact, he knew very little about pokemon. Maturity was lacking in this seventeen year old. He took the easy-going path of life, as too may do. But, no matter what happened, he always seemed to have a back up plan.  
  
Mewtwo glanced around, and caught sight of the last of the RV's inhabitants, who had yet to speak. She was the only one not related to Cole, but that had little to do with anything. Within the trainer circuit there was a code of honor, 'if a fellow trainer needs help, then, by all means, help.' She had been starving and aimless at the time, and definitely needed help. Even Mewtwo would not have hesitated to help.  
  
The jacket fell out of the closet, but the teens were to preoccupied to notice.  
  
"Oh, I know, Anne doesn't even have any badges yet!" exclaimed Kyle "Here is what we can do. We can head back to Pewter City so she can get started, and in the mean time you can build up your pokemon to wipe the floor with Giovanni!"  
  
Crystal gasped and swore, thinking she had stubbed her toe on a glittering object in the middle of the floor. She bent to pick it up, but she was confused by what she found.  
  
"Cole," she called. "Where did you find this Mewtwo figurine? It was next to your jacket!"  
  
In an instant Cole remembered everything every thing. The domestic scene collapsed. Mewtwo, have run out of patients, burst to her true size, with Crystal still holding her ankle. Growlithe growled, Rattata hissed, and Pidgeotto screeched. Crystal stumbled backwards, out of the motor home, gasping in terror. Kyle raced to her. Anna froze completely. Cole stammered and sputtered, trying to talk without thinking. It was insane, but it was not an uncommon reaction.  
  
Mewtwo accused.  
  
"Oh, my gosh! I am so sorry! I completely forgot!" stammered Cole.  
  
she said. Mentally, she added, "Humans can be so stupid."  
  
There was nothing Cole could say. He had been playing with fire to begin with, and now he mad Mewtwo mad. Cole was nervous that his friends would face her wrath as well. He cursed his stupidity. It would take some time before any of them stopped fearing for their lives. Crystal rubbed her forehead, shocked at the pokemon, who she was staring at from the doorway.  
  
"I don't think that is a figurine, Cole. I think that is the real thing!" she gaped. Mewtwo's tail twitched, amazed at how dense these people were being.  
  
For a moment the RV was silent. The air was thick with tension, fear, and shock. None of them, Mewtwo least of all, knew what to do in this situation. She had done nothing, but the teens were imagining what she was capable of. Then, the voice on the portable TV broke through, having been left on all morning.  
  
A reporter stood in front of the Viridian City gym, which looked as it had the night before. Mewtwo shivered at the sight, remembering every detail of her captivity there. Hundreds of Rockets had grouped there the night before, as well as a few helicopters and balloons, all looking for her. So many eyes to hide from. So many enemies, so many unfriendly faces.  
  
"Two years ago a Mewtwo escaped from the building I stand before, now. I am sure you all remember the casualties, that ran from Cinnabar Island to this very Viridian City. That doesn't even count the millions of dollars in equipment and buildings that were destroyed as well. These loses we are just barely recovering from."  
  
"It was a tragic scene that no one, especial local business man Giovanni, wanted to re-live. But, unfortunately another Mewtwo has escaped. Police report that this one escaped around 6:30 last night. It is suspected of killing a young pokemon trainer, who was trying his luck in winning an earth badge at the time...."  
  
"Pokemon trainer?!" gasped Kyle.  
  
"They don't mean you, Cole, do they?" asked Crystal.  
  
stammered Mewtwo, clearly shocked by Giovanni's newest low. I would not kill anyone, except maybe Giovanni. I wish the other Mewtwo would have done that in the first place! She was almost in tears from the baseless accusation.  
  
"Police warn citizens nationwide to be on guard...." continued the TV.  
  
Across the small black and white set flashed the image of Giovanni. After much effort to conceal his criminal tendencies and dealing with Team Rocket, he had come to be viewed as a shrewd entrepreneur. Mewtwo knew better; she had overheard the tales of pokemon being taken from their trainers, seen the black market clients pass in and out of the lab. It was no worse than the Mafia, had it been manned by run-a-way teens.  
  
"The power of this new specie is unparalleled in the pokemon kingdom. Mewtwos are extremely dangerous. It is of the utmost importance that this one be returned to me," Giovanni was saying. I will also reward $500,000 to anyone who has information on its whereabouts."  
  
Mewtwo lowered her head, considering in fear what it would mean to be 'returned to his control.'  
  
"Is that all people think I am? A savage beast to keep in a cage. An object to be possessed?!" she thought in alarm.  
  
"Five hundred grand?!" exclaimed Kyle. "That is one expensive pokemon! And we have it right here! Don't kill us yet! Crystal, honey, can you imagine what we could do with the money?"  
  
Mewtwo gasped. Her eyes glowed angrily, but that could not hide the tears of desperation and sadness. Cole was furious on behalf of the pokemon he had been so afraid of. He looked like he wanted to punch his brother-in-law, no matter how chummy they were.  
  
"No! No, you are not going to turn her in!" yelled Cole. "Kyle, you are not! It isn't right! You hypocrite! Don't you remember we all have rewards out for us?!"  
  
"Anne," said Cole, turning to the silent member. "You ran from Cinnabar Island, a couple of months ago. Didn't even get your trainer's license, just hopped on a boat and left with your Meowth. Remember the poster, Anne?! 'Missing Child?!' She nodded, wishing to be left out of the conversation that she had not participated in.  
  
"Crystal, Kyle! You both quit school and eloped! Mom and Dad have no idea where you went, but the next week you came back and took me with you. What did they call it, Kyle, kidnapping, plagiarism, falsifying records?!"  
  
"Mewtwo has had a hard life, just like the rest of us," Cole continued. "You should have seen what she showed me! It was worse than being stuck in your parents' house!" He scanned the group, who had been put in their place and sat in stunned silence. The easy road had a price.  
  
"None of us want to go back, and none of us will go back, ever!" That line was the end of the conversation, and was the final decision. Mewtwo, with her awesome powers and hefty price, would stay.  
  
AN/ I am surprised how many people like this. It is a pleasant surprise, so as long as the reviews continue, this will be one of my priorities for updating! Just, please keep in mind that this story was original started by one of the many authors named Tiffany. She never finished it, so I am. Therefore, I disclaim the plot. And, as always, please read, review, and enjoy. 


	4. Rest Stop

The super-clone would stay, but much more time would pass before she would feel welcome. It was night. The trees rustled and scratched against the fiberglass siding of the hippie motor-home. The coffeepot timer ticked away the seconds eerily, casting strange shadows from its glowing face in an already strange environment. Often Mewtwo would Minimize and fall asleep in some dark corner. That felt safer, somehow. But she could sense the humans dreaming, and she knew that there was nowhere for her to go.  
  
"What do I have to be afraid of?" she scolded herself. "I am a Mewtwo, one of the most powerful pokemon in the world! Why should I be afraid of a group of humans?" Her predecessor had convinced himself of this. But she had spent too much time in the clutches of Team Rocket. She knew her limits.  
  
"Why?" she began to answer her own question. "Because I am one and they are many. They are still searching for me, waiting to imprison me again with those horrible machines. But I cannot stay awake forever. But if I sleep, then I must let my guard down. And, here I am, not ten feet away from a group of humans! What stops them from changing their mind?" She shuddered, but could not come to a conclusion.  
  
She has spent her entire life under the control of humans. They had all cringed a little, but she did not realize that they would be afraid of her, too. Of course they were afraid of her, how could they not be? Not one of them slept that first night, and for many nights more they were plagued with nightmares.  
  
"She says she won't kill us, but how much can we trust her? What if she is waiting for us to drop our guard, then take her revenge?" that was the common thought from Cole, Crystal, Kyle, and Anne. Neither party realized how vulnerable the other was.  
  
The days were awkward. The news reports persisted, adding fuel to the fire of rumors and misunderstandings. The ironic thing was, if it wasn't for the media, nerves would have been soothed much quicker. Eventually, though, with the profound lack of death and destruction that was predicted and necessary for keeping up ratings, interest waned. Likewise, so did the foursome's fear for their lives. But Mewtwo never forgot the price on her head.  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
Perhaps this frigid gap was bridged one afternoon. Not by Cole and his friends, or even by Mewtwo herself, but by one of their pokemon. After all, this pokemon was truly neutral, representing both sides.  
  
"Hi, I um....need you to help my," the Growlithe approached Mewtwo one day. She talked in poke-speak, but Mewtwo had no problem translating. Mewtwo was surprised that Cole's top battler had sought her out, after she had defeated her so easily in battle. Mewtwo jumped a little when she was approached. Her life was in constant fear and a state of alertness. She was wound tighter than a spring.  
  
{What?} asked Mewtwo.  
  
"You don't talk like a pokemon....." Growlithe commented, a little surprised.  
  
{No,} she replied. {But that does not mean I am not one.} She was a little hesitant about the last line. She wasn't quite sure what she was.  
  
"But you can talk human talk!" smiled Growlithe "You can translate for me!" Mewtwo sighed. Her simple escape had gotten quite complicated. But Growlithe's tone conveyed to her an importance. She could not refuse.  
  
{Fine,} she agreed. {What do you want me to say?} Growlithe, who had seemed eager a moment before, started to get embarrassed. She sat down, wondering how to proceed. She had her opportunity, but she was a bit hesitant in taking it.  
  
"Well, ummmm," stammered Growlithe, searching for the right words. "I have gotten Cole this far, and ummm, I am afraid that he won't think that I am strong enough for the battle ahead." He paused again, before continuing. "You see, I can evolve into an Arcanine, if he decides to use a Fire Stone on me. Arcanines are more powerful that Growlithe..... What should I do? I don't want to evolve, but I can't stop him! Can you imagine what it would be like to have humans messing with your DNA just to win a couple of battles?!"  
  
{I most certainly can!} Mewtwo replied. {I was 'born' with messed-up DNA for that very purpose!} The puppy pokemon looked at her with even more fear about her own future.  
  
"Ha! Puppy, I am sure glad that I only evolve with experience. My Anne would never make me fight enough for that! She says that she wants to find a second pokemon so I don't have to get hurt at all! I know her, but you haven't been with that boy long, have you? Who knows, he could find a Fire Stone tomorrow, or the day after." Meowth chimed into the conversation. She rubbed her charm. She knew she was completely right.  
  
"Do you think he would do that to me?!" Growlithe pleaded with Mewtwo. "What is my personality changes, too? Please, please ask him if he is going to use that stupid Fire Stone!"  
  
In all honestly, the fugitive pokemon just wanted to be left out. Relations were not her strong point, besides, as the resident outcast, she was in no position to ask Cole such a serious question. But she felt empathy towards Growlithe and her problems. She understood. She could not do nothing, not after the look she saw in Growlithe's eyes.  
  
Hesitantly, she addressed the human who was the source of the conversation. He had just walked over, interested in what the pokemon were talking about.  
  
"How can she understand all of that gibberish and still speak English?" Cole wondered to himself as he approached. "Mewtwos are very strange." It was an uncertainty of her breed. With a specie as new as her own, there was a lot of uncertainty. Mewtwo did not know what to expect of herself, either.  
  
{Your Growlithe wishes me to ask you,} she said, {ask you if you are going to force her to evolve using a Fire Stone?} Cole blinked, seeing his battler through new eyes.  
  
"A Fire Stone...." he muttered, "I never thought of that.... I guess I could. That would solve a lot of our problems, wouldn't it?"  
  
Growlithe sweat-dropped. She realized that she had just put the idea into Cole's head and sealed her own fate. She lowered her head to the grass and whimpered once.  
  
{She says that she does not want to evolve,} translated Mewtwo. {She does not think you should be able to do that! I tend to agree. We all have our free-wills, you do realize?}  
  
Cole froze with fear and bewilderment. Somehow, he was in trouble, and he didn't know how. He wasn't the one to bring up the subject, yet the eyes of the other two burned with injustice.  
  
"It isn't me at all," Cole decided, but he kept his mouth shut. "This is the kind of thing I can blame on Team Rocket." He was right, in a vague, broad sense.  
  
"Well, buddy," said Cole. "You don't have to evolve if you don't want to. Is that OK?" A huge weight had been lifted from the puppy's shoulders. She jumped up, onto Cole and began to lick his face.  
  
Mewtwo scoffed at the indignant display. They were both simple creatures. But, she began to doubt even that. She glanced out of the windows. The motor-home zipped by house and telephone poles. The road went hypnotically by. Eventually, she would not fell like such an imposition.  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
With a flourish like he was performing so kind of magic trick, Kyle turned off the motor-home's whining engine. Immediately, everyone went silent, Mewtwo most of all.  
  
"End of the line, mates," smiled Kyle. "File out! We have to get a space!" Cole was the first out. He stretched, reliving the tension of traveling for miles and hours. The evening air was cool, and it felt good after the stuffy air of the RV. The order to get out was not necessary. This was custom, a nightly stop to one of the random KOA gift shops. It was a favorite tradition.  
  
Mewtwo had retreated into his pocket. This drew a few sideways glances, but no questions, at least audible questions. She did as she pleased, and in doing this she observed even the most mundane things. To one created in a lab, the outside world was like another planet, one where she was the alien. There was so much that was new to her; the smell of pine needles, the feel of the wind, the texture of gravel, the taste of campfire cooked hot dogs. That fame first Mewtwo would have thought her as a fool for enjoying such human things.  
  
All at once the office was overcome with teenagers. Everything for teens seemed to be all at once. The middle-aged shop owner saw this and tried to appear annoyed, as many adults acted towards him when he was young. Kyle mustered his meager amount of maturity and went up to the desk. Kyle had drawn the shortest straw, so to speak. Crystal, Cole, and Anne retained the right to amble around the stock of postcards and camping supplies.  
  
"Yo, man," greeted Kyle as he approached, drumming his fingers on the counter. "Any room at the inn?" The camp ground owner chuckled spitefully. This gestured ate away at Kyle's slim self-confidence.  
  
"For you? Go tell your daddy to come in here and do his own business." The man snapped. Mewtwo shook her head at the brief dialogue. Kyle clenched his fist angrily, as if preparing to do battle with the world for age discrimination.  
  
"Woah! Wait a second!" Kyle snapped. "That is our Swiftwind out the. You deal with us, or we will go to the next KOA down the road! I have a driver's license, is that enough?" Truthfully, there was no chance of them being denied a parking spot. The owner had dealt with many cases like this in his years of working there. This, however, the four had no way of knowing, which is how many of the world's understandings had arisen. The old man gave up the pretense and handed Kyle the required information.  
  
Cole was probably the only person in the room oblivious to the conversation. He was checking out the supply of Potions and Poke-balls on the wall. He was a good trainer, after all, and these things interested him. Anne, on the other hand, was not interested in something so barbaric. It was the washing machine that had caught her eye. Even though she was a run-a-way, clean laundry was a luxury.  
  
"Crystal?" Anne asked, "When I get together some money, can we go clothes shopping?" Money, yes that was a problem. It was necessary for their lively hood, a foreign concept to any pokemon. "Oh, and do you know if there are any strong pokemon around here?"  
  
"But you have Meowth!" chuckled Cole. Kittens, after all, make terrible fighters. The camp owner knew this, and eyes the four spheres on Cole's belt.  
  
"Pokemon trainers," he said to himself. "It figures. They are always searching for something more powerful, always drifting from place to place. Gypsies, all of them!" This was truth, he knew it well.  
  
"Why do you use Mewtwo? She is powerful," said Crystal. It was not her brightest moment, it threatened both Cole and his secret passenger's wrath.  
  
"No one can know," she thought, fearfully. "Or else I stand a higher chance of being found." She would certainly refuse to fight in Meowth's place for spending money.  
  
"Mewtwo?! You kids didn't run across that escaped Mewtwo, did you?" asked the camp owner. They thought fast.  
  
"Um...no....You said that there was a Mewtwo on the loose somewhere?" stammered Cole.  
  
"The idiots!" she sighed in his pocket.  
  
"If we did," Kyle chimed in, "We would have turned it into Giovanni for that reward money!" He was still bitter over his lost riches. The older man eyed them suspiciously.  
  
"How would a pokemon like that end up with these clowns. It isn't possible," he told himself while shaking his head.  
  
"Well, y'all better be careful," he said, at last. "It is dangerous around here. We are too close to Viridian City. That is where that pokemon escaped from, you know. Been scaring away my customers, but I don't suppose that matters to you. With a pokemon like that it could be anywhere from Pewter City to Hong Kong by now." He chuckled, then went on with business. "Anyways, how many of you are staying? Just the four?"  
  
"Yep," answered Kyle. "Me and my bride, Anne, and my broth-ero in-law, Cole." Some little fact of that statement seemed to strike a cord within the camp owner, but the teens did not notice. While they were busy with their idle conversation, he began to dig under the counter, for some forgotten folder filled with flyers. Then, when he emerged, it became dead silent. Mewtwo could hear Cole's heart leap within his chest.  
  
"The disadvantage of being stuck in someone's pocket is that you can't see what is going on!" she scolded herself.  
  
In the man's hand was four 'missing person' posters, with each of their names and pictures on the front. He knew they were cornered, and they knew it too. Nervously they all eyed the door, feeling the same way as Mewtwo had hardly a week ago. They weren't exaggerating when Cole said they all had rewards out for them, she realized that now.  
  
"But what would humans need to escape from?" she wondered.  
  
Much. She remembered their words. Danger comes in many forms. The old man shook his head, as if understanding their situation.  
  
"Relax," he said "I ain't gonna turn you in. You see all of those people out there? I'd say that three fourths of them are trainers that ran away from.....whatever. If I turned them all in, I wouldn't have any business!" He paused, as if lost in the pages of his past. "It is like the circus, you know. I was a pokemon trainer, too. 'General' was my starter." An elderly Charmeleon laid in the corner.  
  
"Anyways, there is a pancake breakfast tomorrow morning, and a PT Tourney that afternoon in the main ramada."  
  
Mewtwo was lost in surprise and overwhelmed at all of these strange new concepts. Her predecessor had only stuck around long enough to see the cold, unfeeling side of Team Rocket. But there was much more than that in the world. It was fascinating, if nothing else. 


	5. PTA Tourney

"A PT Tourney," Cole explained the next morning, "is an unofficial Pokemon Trainer's Tournament. They divide you, well..... I mean, humans into categories based on the number of badges we have, if any. Then the pokemon battle. That is about it."  
  
This explanation came with pleads for Mewtwo to participate. But, if Cole could read the haunted look in her eyes, he never would have asked. If money hadn't been so tight, he probably wouldn't have bothered, either.  
  
Mewtwo flatly refused him, using the bluntest terms she knew. She reminded him of his promise to her; that she was her own master, and he would give her no orders. Cole was clearly frustrated, but she tried to remain indifferent. This skill would serve her well in harder times to come.  
  
Wishing to simply be alone, Mewtwo Minimized further and shot out of Cole's pocket, undetected, to an overhanging tree branch that was fairly close to the PT Tourney. She hid behind a few lose leaves, praying that humans would be oblivious to the world around them like they always were.  
  
The scene below sprang into action. The battlers sprang from their poke- balls and proceeded to stare each other down. Humans talked excitedly about things Mewtwo did not yet understand. Music played in the background as 'cheap soda flowed freely.' To tell the truth, the fugitive might have enjoyed herself, had the circumstances been different.  
  
"If the events did not revolve around pokemon bashing each other senseless. If it were not that one miscalculated action, I would be down there, doing the same," she thought. Either way, she leaned closer, curious.  
  
Cole squared off against a faceless trainer, who had called forth a Raichu to take on Cole's Growlithe. It was, no doubt, a more even match than the one that had cost Cole the Earth Badge. That was an encouragement, but it hardly guaranteed a win.  
  
"Rai, Chu-Raiii!" said the Raichu. 'Oh, no another amateur. This should be easy.' The electric mouse boasted, which caused Growlithe to reply, resentfully.  
  
"Grrr, Growlithe!" she snapped. 'Oh, yeah! I'll put up a fight!' Although, for a second her face fell as she remembered the devastating lose against Mewtwo. But no one, save Mewtwo herself, notice the sorrow on her face.  
  
'We just came from winning on of those Volcano Badges,' Raichu chattered on. 'Do you have one of those? You must, or you wouldn't be in this category. It was a tough fight, tougher than this one will be. But I gave that Magmar one Mega Kick, and it was over!'  
  
Raichu glanced back at its trainer, whose eyes glimmered with pride. It was a look that Cole had worn many times without knowing it. Mewtwo had not been so lucky. Giovanni was not known for his compassion.  
  
'Well, um," murmured Growlithe. 'I almost had an Earth Badge.....'  
  
"Almost? Hardly!" thought Mewtwo.  
  
'It is a lot harder than that darn Volcano Badge,' continued Growlithe. 'Humans, they don't know what it is like to fight. Cole is nice, but he is a little disappointed in me. If I don't win this time..... a Fire Stone.... he said he wouldn't do it, but......'  
  
She feared evolution, the same way many feared death. To lose yourself forever in one painful, irreversible action, one that would haunt you for the rest of your life, that was what Growlithe feared. It didn't matter how much Cole reassured her otherwise. Raichu knew this apprehension, but it had forgotten what it was like to be a Pikachu. The electric mouse nodded, understanding the problem.  
  
Raichu agreed to through the battle. To anyone who examined the battle intensely, it would have looked more like a well-choreographed dance than a free-for-all. Thunders and Flame Throwers filled the air and each alternated between dodging and tackling. It was an impressive dance. Some pokemon trainers never realize how much their pokemon control the outcome of the battle. Ultimately, while the pokemon may answer to a human, they controlled their own fate. And the human was often none the wiser. Mewtwo could have easily given the secret away, but the conspiracy intrigued her too much.  
  
In the end, Raichu was pinned to the ground and Growlithe raced into Cole's arms. Raichu rose a moment later and walked off with its trainer. The plan had worked, and the one who could 'spill the beans' had no intention of doing that.  
  
"In gym battles," thought Mewtwo, "you are forced to fight to 'the bitter end', so to speak. How can this be so different?" Bitterness crept into her heart, after seeing this battle where the outcome was only second important. She felt like she had been shafted in life. It was because of this thinking that her predecessor had tried to force justice onto this world, the same reason she had isolated herself from the world completely.  
  
"These matches are just friendly sparring matches," she thought. "There is nothing at stake, really."  
  
The Tournament lasted long after this battle, of course. The winners were declared and returned to the sea of motor homes. But Mewtwo saw none of it. Memories of her past had overcome her, memories of the battles she had fought in.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
A dark corridor lead from Mewtwo's familiar laboratory. She trudged with the heavy heart of a condemned woman. Just ahead loomed the Team Rocket boss, covered in hungry shadows that wanted her, too. The shadows did take her, covering her body with metal and electronics.  
  
"A machine?" she mused, bitterly. "Is that all I am to him? If he wants a mindless servant, why didn't he use steel instead of flesh and blood?" Giovanni had asked himself this very question on occasion.  
  
Giovanni snapped his fingers and the lights of the arena flashed on. Mewtwo got her first look at the Viridian City Gym.  
  
That stadium was not what caught her attention, but the others in it. They were figures she was not used to seeing. They wore armor, much like her own. She recognized them immediately. The two scientists had often compared her to 'the other two Mewtwos.' But this was the first time she had met any of them.  
  
{Hello,} she whispered to them.  
  
They were all intrigued by the others. Which, Giovanni thought from his safe and superior balcony from above, was surprising. He had almost expected them to fight on sight, like crazed beasts. But, for creatures possessing such great powers, they were surprisingly civil. No, lonely was a more appropriate word. This never occurred to Team Rocket's boss. But loneliness was a common feeling for this specie, especially the first.  
  
{I wish I was not wearing this idiotic armor,} said one of the others. {I want to see what you really look like.} She nodded in agreement while the third reached up and gingerly rubbed his sore temples. They, too, had had fought against the hand of science that wrenched their powers from them, the previous night. She loathed that hand of science. She loathed the very thing that had created her.  
  
"Shall we begin, then?" asked Giovanni, oblivious to the feelings of creatures below him. "You already know the basics of pokemon battling, which, is of course, what we do here. Trainers will come here to win an Earth Badge." He held up the tiny pin, which seemed so insignificant for the price they all had to pay. "But it is highly unlikely that they will win. All three of you are the most powerful pokemon alive. Even stronger than Mew, whom you were cloned from. Of course, Mews are extinct, leaving a very little problem for you." He paused a moment, turning some idea over in his mind.  
  
"This, however," he continued, "is not an official gym battle. You have each demonstrated exceeding skills with your psychic powers. That is why I am providing this training session. You may test your powers as you like. I am interested in seeing what happens." He leaned back in his seat. The two scientists leaned forward, eager to record every event that happened. The female Mewtwo was something new, and all eyes were one her to see what would happen.  
  
{Battle?!} she gasped. {You mean try to harm them! I have no reason to! They are like my brothers!}  
  
"You will fight because I tell you to fight!" yelled Giovanni, enraged that someone had the nerve to stand up to him. "I created you. I am your master, and you will do as you are ordered!" Her eyes flickered with anger.  
  
Perhaps the outcome could have been different. Perhaps if the flash of anger in her eyes had not been misinterpreted. Perhaps if one of her brothers had not already been nervous and afraid of the damage she may do. He took aim. She saw the attack to late, and her pacifist protests fell with her.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
Mewtwo looked away, quickly. She still felt every moment.  
  
{My brothers, my brothers,} she sobbed. Many times after that they fell by each other's hand. She had to learn to fight back, or else be killed. Then, she had to learn to win. But, oh how she wished that there was another way. They were so similar, why did they have to be forced to hurt each other?  
  
"Why could we not fight by these kinder rules?" she wondered. "If we had to battle, why couldn't we be loved for the pain we had to endure. Why did I have to fight to the bitter end against my own kind, against my own brothers?"  
  
Tears gathered in her eyes, tears of loneliness, remorse, and an unhealing pain. Society believed that Mewtwos were incapable of feelings, but society was wrong, as it often is.  
  
She turned her attention to the crescent moon above. The sky was the same to all, and the shadows provide a sanctuary for those hiding.  
  
"Perhaps my brothers can see it through the lab windows," she thought. "And maybe, if he is still alive, my predecessor can, too. Perhaps he watches the sky like this, sad over the unfair lot life has thrown us."  
  
She wanted to know if he was still alive for sure, but the stars gave no answer. She may be psychic, but she was not all-knowing.  
  
"Perhaps," she thought, "If I cannot share my freedom with my brothers, I will share it with the one that came before me.....and tell him he is no longer alone." 


	6. Mew

AN/ Thanks for the loyal reviews! Here is the next chapter. Keep in mind, this was original written before Mewtwo's Return. With that out of the way, on with the fic! And, as always, please read, review, and enjoy. (  
  
Years ago humans had once tramped through a dense forest covered in vines and marshes. Under the Amazon sun they sought out a single ruin. Now, there goal laid abandoned in that same forest, which time had erased all signs of its visitors.  
  
Now, still searching for her roots, Mewtwo went in search of this place that was her origin. She wasn't prepared for the solitude of this forgotten place. Only a picture of Mew greeted her at this decaying shrine. She blinked, trying to figure it all out. It seemed like she was trying to remember something that she had forgotten.  
  
{Why should I be afraid?} she asked, out-loud, so the silence would not be so deafening. {I am psychic.}  
  
She closed her eyes, as if trying to sense if there was another presence by her. As if she was trying to reach into the past for any sign of the pokemon she was cloned from. A light rain began to fall, bring out the smells of ancient dust and new decay. She ignored this. She thought she heard a hum, but maybe, she was truly alone.  
  
{Nothing at all.....} she muttered, sadly. She had come all this way because she had to know if she was truly alone. And now, she knew that she was. It seemed almost wrong that the world could be so cruel to one specie, who had no control over the lot that had been forced on it.  
  
But she refused to give up. She left this place, hoping that the further she got from civilization, technology, humanity, and mostly science, the more her origin would become clear, the more she would find herself. She picked a random direction.  
  
This kind of freedom was a part of any Mew's life. It was no wonder that she had been driven so. She watched the world pass, shocked at the beauty of it. She could only imagine such things from the lab window, and now to be among them.....  
  
"What would have happened if I had been born into this world," she thought, "instead of a world filled with cold machinery and imprisoning labs?"  
  
Not far off of the coast of South America Mewtwo spotted a small, tropical island. The silvery blue waters lapped at the sparkling beaches, which were barren of all but a handful of pokemon. The trees grew wild and free. A small mound rose up in the middle, a long dormant volcano. She hesitated before landing, as if her legacy of science might contaminate the entire island.  
  
Hunger was the biggest reason why she landed. After all, why shouldn't she rest in a tropical grove? So she landed on a tree branch, taking one of the fruits for herself. For some reason, this made her feel at home.  
  
"I always did love this island, Mewtwo," purred a small voice. Mewtwo was instantly able to translate the poke-speak. But, much to her surprise, the name that was repeated was 'Mew.'  
  
A playful angelic kitten appeared at eye level as she sat surrounded by flowering tropical vines. This pokemon could have been the model for the watercolor picture in Anne's book. Every detail matched, even the penetrating blue eyes. Mew performed an impressive loop-de-loop in mid air, while playing with a fruit she had picked.  
  
"This is my original?!" gaped Mewtwo as she watched, too shocked to answer.  
  
"I know you don't want to hear any of it," the kitten continued with a smile, "but anyways, I am glad to see you here, in a tree, because it's not a very serious thing to do, and that's the last thing you need." Mewtwo nodded.  
  
"Come on!" continued Mew. "Enough with the anger and the attitude...."  
  
"Am I really like that?" she asked herself.  
  
"You should come and play with us sometime? Have fun! Lighten up!" Mew continued, but she did a double take. Never before had Mewtwo's eyes listened to a word she had to say.  
  
"It's true!" thought Mew. The vision she had dreamed of for so long wasn't just a dream. It appeared that Mewtwo had finally changed.  
  
"Why, Mewtwo! You laughed, just like me. I never knew that about you. Does that mean that you finally get what I have been telling you after all this time?"  
  
Mewtwo smiled a little more. She had finally begun to get it, but not what Mew was talking about. She had to mean her predecessor, meaning he was still alive.  
  
"Hope is not lost for the world if you can learn to enjoy yourself!" continued the giggly Mew. "How long has it been, how long have I known you....?"  
  
{Um, are you sure you know me?} asked Mewtwo. Mew was shocked. She had been expecting a deep baritone voice, not this one that clearly female. The little thing was dumb-struck.  
  
"I....I thought I did," stammered Mew. "But I don't! Oh, there is one difference about you.... everything!"  
  
"You probably know about the first Mewtwo, Mewtwo," continued Mew, who hardly seemed to pause for a breath. "In fact, I bet I'm not the first to get the two of you confused, you both look a lot a like. He caused a lot of trouble, you know. So I had to take him here. I've tries to encourage him to forget about the past and move on. Because no one can be truly happy unless they know who they are, you know. Unfortunately, he is still very depressed."  
  
"What are we supposed to do?" asked another Mew who had appeared besides the first. "He never listens to any of us!"  
  
"And sometimes he is just so silly about it!" agreed the first.  
  
"So we were thinking," said the second. "What if someone else would talk to him, someone who has been there before, someone who he would see as his equal, like another Mewtwo or something...." They both looked at her, expectantly. For a second she was shocked. She had searched out her predecessor to learn from him, and now, it seemed, like she would be the one talking some sense into him.  
  
{Me?!} she gasped. {But I have never even met him! All I wanted to know was if he was still alive!}  
  
"He is," purred the first Mew. "But is that the only reason you were looking for him?"  
  
Of course it wasn't, but how was she going to explain how they both should be lost and alone in the world that had rejected them.  
  
{You cannot be serious!} she exclaimed, to there pleading eyes. {You have no idea what I have been through! Do you think that I have wanted any of it?!}  
  
The two Mews pretended not to hear her, then giggled to themselves for one reason they only knew.  
  
"Come on," said the first. "You should meet him first."  
  
"Oh, he is going to be so happy to see you," agreed the second. "Or at least, he is going to be surprised!"  
  
They led her to a small rocky inlet that had been left by an ancient lave flow. Several thorny vines decorated the surface. Years of rain had rubbed it smooth.  
  
"Go ahead," encouraged the Mew.  
  
Mewtwo stepped forward, carefully brushing the vines away, so she would not get pricked.  
  
{Maybe this is not a good time,} she muttered.  
  
"It'll be fun!" insisted the second Mew.  
  
"Let me talk to him first!" exclaimed the first as she raced in.  
  
"Mewtwo! Mewtwo! Mewtwo!" she called.  
  
{You again,} snapped Mewtwo. His eyes had been glazed over, as if he had let his mind wander. {Leave me in peace.}  
  
"Some peace," replied Mew, "cheer up! I have a surprise for you!"  
  
{I do not care.}  
  
"But this surprise," continued Mew, "took a lot of time to get ready and has gone through a lot of stuff that no..... surprise should have to go through."  
  
{No childish trifle you have found could possible interest me! Go away!}  
  
"You don't know what you are saying!" insisted Mew. "Just turn around!"  
  
{Fine,} he snapped. {If I see this little trifle you have, will you leave me alone?}  
  
"I'll,.....leave for a little while," agreed Mew. "But you have to look!"  
  
He turned around without another word, and gasped.  
  
{Dear lord!} 


	7. Mewtwo

AN/ Thanks for all of the positive support. I don't quite agree with Tiffany, the original author's, interpretation of the first Mewtwo's personality, but I went for accuracy on the original story. And, as always, please read, review, and enjoy! (  
  
The clone recoiled in abject shock, a reaction that only this could produce. Under any tragedy, any attack or any other circumstances he could have remained calm. But looking at the mirror image of himself, another one of his kind, was almost too much. He was speechless.  
  
She reached out to him, which could have been part of some forgotten instinct. But the minute she did a hard mask of heartlessness appeared on his face. It was the same look she had used many times.  
  
For a few moments it was a staring contest. For a brief second the first time she had met her brothers flashed in her mind. This situation was very similar to that one. But, much to her surprise, he was not the least bit welcoming. He didn't even bother to address her at all.  
  
"Does he even see me as a living creature? As his equal? As one of his own kind?" she asked herself as he continued to eye her suspiciously. She could feel her heart sinking.  
  
Finally, a look of understanding crossed his eyes. He even made a faint, haughty smile. {Ditto, De-Transform.}  
  
The two Mews, who were outside listening giggled.  
  
{I am not a Ditto,} she replied, nervously. She had no idea now how he would react to her.  
  
His eyes went wide again with shock. He seemed to puzzle over the similar appearance, which could be explained by a simple Transform. But no Transform could copy the telepathy.  
  
{I am a Mewtwo,} she said, trying to fill the silence.  
  
{No, that cannot be,} he stated. {I am Mewtwo.}  
  
{So am I,} she replied.  
  
He stepped back and shook his head, trying to clear it. But as he began to realize the truth, he only became more overwhelmed.  
  
{You are a trick!} he accused. {You have to be an illusion, one of Mew's tricks!} He glared at the floating kitten behind him. This proved to be fruitless.  
  
"Nope!" chimed Mew. "She is real, I found her!" She smiled, slightly.  
  
{You are not on of their tricks?} he asked suspiciously and harshly. He seemed annoyed by her good attitude.  
  
{Yes,} she answered. {I am glad that you are alive. They told me that you had died, and I am glad to see that this is not the case.}  
  
"Why did they ever tell me that?" she asked herself. How could those humans be so cruel to this lonely creature?  
  
{They?! Who is 'they'?} he demanded.  
  
She explained to her predecessor all she knew about Team Rocket's repeated attempts at cloning. She left out the details about her time with Cole and his friends, though. She sensed he would not approve of any humans. He listened with a mask of indifference on.  
  
She explained how happy she was that he was still alive. But much to her own disappointment, he said nothing, being completely lost in thought. What else could she have expected, though. This pokemon had just been given the shock of his life.  
  
{That is impossible,} he stated at length. {I destroyed all of their resources.}  
  
{I know,}she said. {They rebuilt it.}  
  
{The lab on New Island?}  
  
{Yes.}  
  
{My own lab!} he cried. {Tell me they did not resurrect that as well.} She looked at him, confused. {Yes, they did not know of my work, least of all that fool Giovanni. Deceased indeed! So, what are you then, a Mew....three?}  
  
{Please, I am tired of explaining,} she said. {I told you. I am a Mewtwo, just like you.}  
  
"Well, we are hardly alike," she thought.  
  
{Then you are my successor,} he said, mostly to himself.  
  
{Not really.....}  
  
"What does it matter?" asked Mew, who was ignored.  
  
{Me, your replacement?} she asked, more for her own benefit. {I suppose in their eyes I was.... But they were not happy with me, either.}  
  
{Undoubtedly,} he muttered. {Tell me, what is wrong with your voice? It is extremely unnerving.}  
  
{There is nothing wrong with my voice,} she said. {I am telepathic, like you are.}  
  
{Do not insult me. That is not what I meant. Your voice is so high it almost sounds feminine.}  
  
She laughed at that. {I should hope that it does, because I am a female.}  
  
{You are lying.}  
  
{Now, please, I can understand anyone else not getting it, but you, you are my own specie!}  
  
{My own specie?} he asked, toying with the idea in his mind. {A female Mewtwo? I was replaced by a female? A mere diluted version of myself. So, I was too much for him to handle.}  
  
"That is an awful thing to say!" exclaimed Mew. "Girls are just as nice as boys. Sometimes nicer, because they are kinder and more sensitive and....." She continued, winking at her about their prior conversation. Nothing was mentioned about her additional motives, though.  
  
{Oh,} he retorted. {Surely a psychic like yourself sees that the height and the tone meaning nothing!}  
  
{I Minimized,} she replied. }That is how I escaped. They did not think I could do that! Can you?}  
  
{You could not have,} he practically spat. {You do not know what you are talking about.}  
  
"Mewtwo, why do you wish to be left alone?" asked Mew. "Why are you being so difficult?"  
  
His eyes narrowed at the gentle scolding. {I told you to leave.} He followed this up with a push of psychic energy.  
  
She tumbled backwards, the righted herself. This was followed by a fit of giggles, much to the female Mewtwo's relief. She then darted out of the cave, but they could still feel her watching them. It appeared that everything was funny to Mew.  
  
"Strange little creatures," she thought with a sigh.  
  
{Cursed little insects,} he muttered, angrily. He meant this to include his successor as well. Her tail twitched angrily at his attitude. She could see how the rest of the world quickly labeled him as evil. But, all she could see was a lonely person, and some part of the Mew core which made them both. This prevented her from hating him.  
  
{Oh?}  
  
{A real Mewtwo would not allow himself to be further indebted to humans.}  
  
{Oh?} she repeated. {You do not know what that is like! 'A real Mewtwo'? Who are you comparing me to? Yourself, only!} His mutated hands closed into a tight fist. She could feel his psychic power rising.  
  
{And I suppose you left Giovanni and his precious Team Rocket unharmed and just escaped in the pocket of a human boy!} He pushed her aside with a wave of psychic power. She nearly collapsed in the corner.  
  
For some reason, she could feel tears forming in her eyes.  
  
"Oh dear," muttered the first Mew, outside. "They hate each other! What are we going to do?"  
  
"We wait," replied the second. "Matters of the heart are really complicated things." They continued their eavesdropping.  
  
{You do not even know what it was like!} she protested.  
  
{Nor do I care,} he said, but they both knew that that was a lie. He was at least curious.  
  
[Well, after you left, they got cautious against another escape. I can not think of the proper term! And they have probably made life even harder on our brothers now. I can only imagine.} She secretly wished that he would ask about them, but he seemed disinterested. He had far different plans.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
He stood on the platform, lost in thought. There were so many questions he needed to have answered. He began to ask them out-loud.  
  
Giovanni walked out to his accustomed place on the balcony. He looked down, spitefully. He gave his answers, shocking the first clone to the very marrow of his bones.  
  
{That cannot be!} he gasped.  
  
"You were created by humans to obey humans. You could never be our equal."  
  
{Humans may have created me, but they will never enslave me!} he cried. With a tremendous burst of psychic abilities the walls were torn apart. The ceiling was ripped away, revealing the bright blue sky. Psychic fire burned the armor off of his body while Giovanni fled for his very life.  
  
Hate. There was so much hate. He hated him, for creating him, for betraying him, for taking away the chance at a true life. He hated his own creator for making him hate.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
{Really?} she asked, shocked. At once he knew that he had revealed too much to her.  
  
{Yes,} he admitted, bluntly. {It took so little to destroy everything he had built. He glared at her. {It is pathetic if you could not do the same.}  
  
She countered by letting him into her memories, so he could see the torture she had undergone.  
  
*Flashback*  
  
It was dark. It was not the peaceful darkness of night, but the fearful darkness that comes out of children's closets. It was darkness of the unknown.  
  
Giovanni was in the middle of it, standing in front of the light that poured from his lofty balcony. She hated him, and he hated her. He saw her with the same emotions has he saw the first of her kind.  
  
"Stop resisting," he spat. "You can't win."  
  
She did not answer, she could not. Her thoughts were bleeding into one another. It was like every aspect of her mind was on fire, being burned slowly away. Her temples were inflamed, but despite her struggles, she could not break free.  
  
She was dying; body, mind, and soul. They were killing her, sucking the life out of her with their cold machinery and cruel electricity.  
  
"Think! Have to escape..... Have to.... must......can't...... pacing in my mind..... trapped," she thought as the torture continued.  
  
*End Flashback*  
  
{So there,} she said, simply. She did not show him everything, she wasn't sure if he could handle it. But he needed to know, he deserved to know.  
  
"I'm sorry, poor Mewtwo-ie," sobbed Mew. She was genuinely sorry. The two Mewtwos pulled apart, still a little separated from reality.  
  
{What could I have done?} she asked. She was on the verge of tears.  
  
{Why did he not die?} asked Mewtwo, bitterly. {I should have watched him burn! You, if we combine our powers, this time there will be no reprieve for humanity!}  
  
"Oh, please don't start that again!" begged Mew, exasperated. The other Mewtwo did not respond.  
  
{It is night in Viridian City,} he continued. {We can attack now, and they will not see their next sunrise!}  
  
{I will not deny that they deserve it.}  
  
{Yes, that is what I have been trying to convince these spineless insects of.}  
  
She shock her head. {There were times during my enslavement when I as sure that I would have killed them all. I wanted to, and they deserved it.}  
  
"Mewtwo, no!"  
  
{But it never would have worked out, which is just as well. I am glad that I did not. It is over with, and I am free now. I am healthier than I have ever been, and the boy and his friends were very kind to me.}  
  
His clenched fists tightened. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he fabled temper flared. {You stupid female. You disgrace my name! How dare you rely on that treacherous plague like some whimpering Growlithe! You cannot be one of my kind!}  
  
In that instant he fired a ball of energy at her. It would have been enough to instantly KO any other pokemon, but her reflexes had been sharpened by the need to survive. She reflected it back at him, much like a Ping-Pong ball.  
  
She hit him directly, causing him to be even more shocked.  
  
{Pompous jerk!} she spat, angrily. He rose to his feet, blue energy glowing from his eyes. The air crackled with their combined tension.  
  
{I do not think that that is a good idea,} she said, daring him with her eyes. }You forgot that I was forced to fight in a gym, against our very brothers routinely.} Her heart twinged as she remembered the tragic outcome of those battles.  
  
{What?} he gasped, in another state of shock. Outside the Mews were giggling, again.  
  
"You promised us, remember," said one, quietly as she began to scan for the nearest exit.  
  
Mewtwo rose to his full height. She matched him. The Mews watched, wondering how two such like creature could be at each other's throats. A strange look crossed his eyes. Mewtwo thought she saw the child in him, and she could never hate him for that.  
  
{Then,} he said, regain his composure which had earned his hard hearted reputation. {If you will not rule the world with me, then at least rule this island. I am the emperor here, and you would be the ....... empress.}  
  
{No.}  
  
{What!? Why not?}  
  
{I have no desire to rule other living creatures, I only want to be free.}  
  
{Giovanni,} he snapped. {Do you think he is happy to just let you disappear? He will hunt you down. You will never be able to escape him, and once he finds you, you will be his prisoner again.} Her tears threatened to return because of the ice around his heart.  
  
{If we do not rule, then we will be enslaved,} he concluded. Little did she know that that was his greatest fear, too.  
  
{I want.....}  
  
{Fine, then,} he interrupted. {What do you plan on doing with all of that power? Will you go back and win your freedom in battle?} He glared at her, but her eyes did not look back with hatred. He was mildly surprised at that. Her eyes were so similar to his own, he realized, and that seemed to trigger something in the back of his mind.  
  
{Wait! Why are you leaving? I did not say you could leave!} he yelled as she began to walk away.  
  
{I do not need your permission,} she spat. But she turned back, looking for a verbal brawl.  
  
"See," muttered one Mew to the other.  
  
{You attack me, call me names, say that I am unworthy to be your own kind!} she accused.  
  
{I do not hold that against you, that was before......}  
  
{Such kind words,} she interrupted him. But she looked at him, knowing that she could never be bitter towards him. {I may come back to this island, what do you call it?}  
  
{Clone Island,} he said, simply, not mentioning that he was not the reason behind the name.  
  
{Clone Island, fitting. If I return, will I be welcomed?}  
  
"Yes!" chimed the Mews.  
  
{Yes,} he said, though it wounded his pride. She smiled at this, then walked off.  
  
"Why are you leaving now?" asked the second Mew. "Don't you like us?"  
  
"This was supposed to be your home, too," added the first. "And you are going so far away. You will come back?"  
  
{I will come back, someday, but my home is elsewhere. I still have things to do.} 


	8. Reflections

AN/ This is where Tiffany ends and I begin. From here on out, it will be what I think happens in the story. I'll try to keep it in the same style, because I like how she got to the heart of things. Also, this is my #1 read fic in progress! Thanks to all of you!!!  
  
She landed lightly behind the trailer home as the dawn sun began to highlight the sky. She was tired, physically, mentally, and emotionally. It had been draining on her to travel so much. And her encounter with her predecessor was more exhausting than she had realized.  
  
She slipped into the Swiftwind and collapsed into the bunk that Kyle had let her use. The rest of the motor home's occupants were still asleep. They had never known she had gone. For that, she was grateful. She did not want to deal with their questions, even if they would have the nerve to ask her. She felt isolated enough without her roots growing between them.  
  
These kids were strange to her. She had begun to understand that they were afraid of her. But to what degree, she did not know. But still, they had taken her in and kept her secret, and that was the nicest thing anyone had ever done for her. She never thought she'd feel gratitude towards humans, but these four had earned it. She fell asleep with that thought.  
  
"He seemed so lonely," she thought the next day. Then Mewtwo shook her head, trying to clear it. Her predecessor had begun to invade her thoughts. She couldn't take her mind off of him.  
  
"What does it matter to me, if he is going to act like that?" she asked herself. It didn't help.  
  
The rest of the RV's inhabitants began their normal morning routines. It seemed so odd to her. Life was going on normally, even though nothing was going to be normal anymore.  
  
"He lives there all alone, with only those few Mews and a handful of native pokemon. And after all Team Rocket has put our kind through.... He is hurting, whether he will admit that or not.... But, what does it matter to me? He has made it clear he wants nothing to do with me. No, that can't be it. I think he just pushes everyone away, because he has been hurt so much."  
  
"Where to, mates?" asked Kyle as he took his place behind the wheel.  
  
"Is there anything happening in any of the nearby towns?" asked Crystal as she walked up to him.  
  
"Anne, do you still want to head to Pewter City for your first badge?" asked Cole.  
  
"I would like to catch another pokemon, first," she said, shyly.  
  
"We could shoot for another PT Tourney," suggested Kyle as he pulled out a large road map.  
  
Mewtwo looked at them. Their life was relatively simple. Their problems seemed so easy. Why did it seem that every possible quagmire of life was thrown at her specie? It just wasn't fair. Her kind had to live in lonely isolation and pain, without the remotest compassion. The entire world, in fact, had seen them as outcasts, misfits, freaks, and derelicts.  
  
She had begun to wonder how much more she'd be able to take. She wasn't surprised that her predecessor had found a place to live in such complete isolation. But, that life was not for her. She could never live with someone who was so hard-hearted. These humans had opened their hearts to her, and that was why she had come back.  
  
She began to wonder about the first Mewtwo again. He seemed like a hard- hearted, arrogant jerk. But how much of that had been a facade to keep her away from his heart. She thought she had seen through it, for a second. He was a lonely child, who wanted a friend, and above all, acceptance. That was what every member of her kind wanted.  
  
The Mews had invited her to come back, even her predecessor had remotely agreed. But she was not ready to hide from the world. These humans were too fascinating, and she still had her two brothers in captivity.  
  
She looked to the open sky, wishing they could see it once, free from the window of the lab. Mewtwo wondered how her brothers were doing. She knew things had to be hard for them, since she escaped. She understood that the security had to be even tighter now. But she still dreamed of them finding a way out, like she had. No pokemon deserved to be treated how Giovanni treated them.  
  
The humans went about their daily routines, oblivious to the sudden change that had happened in her life. She now knew she was not alone in her freedom, but she had no idea how to handle this knowledge.  
  
Growlithe walked over to her, curious by her strange detachment, and half bored for conversation.  
  
"What are you think about?" asked Growlithe.  
  
{The others of my kind,} she replied, with a tone of longing and sadness.  
  
"What about them?" she asked.  
  
{Whether they will be free one day. Whether I will even see them again. Whether my kind will always be alone,} she replied.  
  
"Why don't you go and free them? I bet you could kick major butt!" replied Growlithe. Mewtwo stepped back at the thought.  
  
She had briefly considered that idea, but the very thought of heading back to Giovanni, for whatever reason, scared her more than anyone knew. She couldn't even try, the risk of recapture would be too great.  
  
{I do not think I could,} she admitted. {Those humans will do anything to catch me. They do even worse stuff to keep us prisoner.} She shuddered at the horrible memories of her enslavement.  
  
"What's going on?" asked Meowth as she walked over.  
  
"Nothing much," replied Growlithe. Mewtwo turned away, and stared at the horizon.  
  
"Did you hear what Anne said? We may be getting another friend," said Meowth.  
  
"I find it hard to believe that she would actually be able to fight another pokemon," said Growlithe.  
  
"We'll do it together," replied Meowth. "I'll be right there with her!" Meowth then barred her claws, trying to be intimidating.  
  
"You'd fight?!" gasped Growlithe, as if the very idea was preposterous.  
  
"We can do it, too!" protested Meowth. "I can't wait to have another friend. Its been me and Anne for so long."  
  
"She's had the other kids, and you have us," replied Growlithe.  
  
"Yes, but you have your boy and his pokemon. And the other two have each other. Now, Anne and I are going to have a group," said Meowth.  
  
"So, what pokemon do you want to be your friend?" asked Growlithe.  
  
"I don't know, maybe a Butterfree, because they are so pretty. Or a Pidgey, they are fun," she said with a sly smile. "Maybe even a Vulpix. Anne's family had one on Cinnabar, and he was really nice, even though he was a little vain."  
  
"What about a Vulpix?" asked Growlithe, who had let herself be distracted as the kitten jabbered on.  
  
"I said that Anne's family had a Vulpix. He was good friends with my mother before Anne and I left," said Meowth. "I wouldn't mind making friends with another."  
  
"It would be just like a Meowth family to find a weak pokemon like that to be friends with," said Growlithe, in a cocky voice. "My family knew three Arcanines, as well as a Houndoom. The pokemon respected us because of that."  
  
"But those pokemon have such nasty attitudes. I mean, a dark type?!" gasped Meowth.  
  
"Arcanines are the most honorable pokemon around! They are just one step below legendary!" argued Growlithe.  
  
"Yeah, they are so high up there that they don't have time for dealing with puppies," taunted Meowth.  
  
"Do not!"  
  
"Do too!"  
  
"Do not!"  
  
"Do too!"  
  
"Do not!"  
  
"Do too!"  
  
{What are the two of you arguing about?} asked Mewtwo, when the noise began to distract her from her thoughts.  
  
"Growlithe thinks that three Arcanines actually would spend time with his family," said Meowth.  
  
"They did!" protested Growlithe.  
  
{I would not be surprised if they did. Especially if the Arcanines were originally part of your Growlithe pack,} answered Mewtwo.  
  
"Told you so," snapped Growlithe.  
  
"Huff!" pouted Meowth. "I still think Vulpix was one of the nicer pokemon you could know."  
  
{I always thought that Vulpix was a little vain,} muttered Mewtwo.  
  
"They are, but you have to get around that," answered Meowth. "What pokemon does your family know?" Meowth realized her mistake instantly. "I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking."  
  
A sad look crossed Mewtwo's eyes. It was a look of despair over something she would never have. Her kind would always be alone. She turned away.  
  
"Great going," Growlithe muttered, loud enough for Meowth to over hear.  
  
{I guess there are some who are just meant to be alone,} she replied in a whisper.  
  
"But, aren't there others? Didn't you say that Giovanni made three others?" asked Meowth, oblivious to all forms of logic.  
  
{Yes, but he still has them prisoner,} she said. She wanted to keep her predecessor's secret. {It seems so impossible. I doubt that they'd be able to escape now, and I doubt that I'd be able to free them without being caught myself.}  
  
"I'll bite him for you," volunteered Growlithe, trying to lighten the mode. She smiled faintly, then walked away.  
  
"You made it worse," scolded Meowth.  
  
"At least I didn't start it!" snapped Growlithe.  
  
She found a shady corner and stopped. Mewtwo tried to keep the awful reality from choking her. The only free member of her kind had no desire to be with her. And, if she even attempted to help her brothers, she'd share their fate. Everything seemed so hopeless.  
  
{What can I do?} she asked the wind. But the wind, while being a great listener, is very poor for advice.  
  
"What am I going to do?" she asked herself. "How long can I stay with these humans? But, if I leave, where do I go? Back to Clone Island? They said I could come back.... But, I hardly think I'd be truly welcomed there. I know I don't fit in there. Could I find my own place to call home? And then what? I'd be completely alone. I just wish my brothers were here too."  
  
She looked at the sunset. It was beautiful. The oranges and pinks highlighted the clouds in a stunning array. She wondered if her brothers could see it from the lab. She also wondered if her predecessor would even lift his eyes to the sky and see this sight.  
  
"I would like to see this, with my own kind, just once," she wished. "I do not think that that is ever going to happen...."  
  
"Why not?" a voice countered in her mind. "What is to stop the four of you from being together?"  
  
"They are trapped."  
  
"Then why can't you free them?"  
  
"Because I don't stand a chance against the technology they have."  
  
"Why don't you free them?"  
  
"Because I would get caught myself."  
  
"Why don't you free them?"  
  
"Because.... Because..... Because I am afraid." 


	9. Hunted

The scenery flew by as the passengers in the Swiftwind continued down the highway. They were quite far from the place where this had all started, Viridian City. Mewtwo felt much relief from this. But, there seemed to be very little purpose in where they were driving. With the Pokemon League no more than a distant dream, the kids had no real purpose in their travels, except to travel.  
  
Anne had little ambition to become a great trainer. She had tried half- heartedly to catch another pokemon, and had failed. But, in this circle of run-a-ways, there was no criticism, just support. Mewtwo had observed all of this with twangs of jealously, jealously that came from a long time of isolation and cruelty.  
  
"Kyle, why don't we stop?" asked Crystal later that day.  
  
"Whatfore?" he asked.  
  
"My legs are getting sore, and I think I see a McDonalds © ahead," she answered. She looked into his eyes as only a wife can and any arguments he could have made fell.  
  
By this time Mewtwo had darted into Cole's pocket. The very mention of other humans being anywhere near her sent her into hiding. This list of people she could trust was short indeed, and a pokemon with a price on her head could never be too careful.  
  
"Sure, lunch would be nice," agreed Anne as she walked from the back of the motorhome. Meowth was by her side, looking eagerly at the looming golden arches. Cole nodded in agreement.  
  
Seeing that he was outnumbered, Kyle directed the Swiftwind into the parking lot and parked it in the back. With a flourish he turned off the RV and they group piled out.  
  
They entered the fast food joint and then began to count change to make sure there was enough for a value meal. It was about lunch time, and the place was fairly crowded. Mewtwo was wound like a spring for the slightest sign of danger. But people are generally oblivious of the world, and she went unnoticed.  
  
But, she had the perfect opportunity to observe them. Parents were juggling trays of fries and drinks. Kids were gulping food to be able to play on the plastic jungle gym. Single people were reading the newspaper in the corner. Others were impatiently waiting in line. The workers were darting back and forth, trying to deal with the lunch time crowd. All in all, it was completely normal.  
  
The kids got their food, paid for it, and sat down. But Mewtwo was too busy watching the rest of the world to care. She seemed to focus on the running, laughing kids on the playground. They were so happy, so carefree, so innocent. Mewtwo couldn't help but be bitter by what she saw. Childhood was another thing she had been deprived of.  
  
"What would it have been like to grow up?" she wondered. "These human children are having so much fun. I have never laughed like that. Would it have been worth it to be innocent of the evil in the world? I wish I had never known evil, and yet, I was created into it."  
  
The group finished and resumed their journey in the Swiftwind. The kids seemed to perk up with the food and began to talk among themselves. But Mewtwo, due to all of the recent events, slipped into kind of a melancholia. Everything seemed to be stacked against her, and she had no idea what to do or where to turn.  
  
The idea about helping to free her brothers seemed like a lofty dream. A dream that she would never fulfill because of the fear of recapture. She had no intentions on living alone. And Clone Island was a place she hardly felt welcomed.  
  
They were still traveling down the highway late into the evening. Crystal had her eyes peeled on the rode, looking for a place to stop. Anne had fallen asleep in the back, with a book she was reading open on her lap. Meowth had curled up next to her. Cole was busy with his pokemon. Mewtwo watched them from a shadowy corner, lost in her own thoughts.  
  
The motorhome pulled up to a toll booth as the group prepared to exit the highway. AS if sensing some unknown threat, Mewtwo once again hid herself in Cole's pocket. He jumped in surprise, but otherwise managed to keep his cool. Kyle was busy carrying on a conversation with the toll booth worker.  
  
"That will be four fifty," she said.  
  
"Sure," he agreed and fished out the change.  
  
"Excuse me," said a new voice as another person appeared in the booth.  
  
"What?" asked Kyle, suspicious. He wasn't exactly safe himself.  
  
Mewtwo could sense some kind of evil, and began to feel afraid. She knew something bad was coming.  
  
{Hide!} she urged Cole. He was surprised that she actually spoke to him. He was even more surprised by the tone in her mental voice. He was so surprised that he didn't act fast enough for his secret passenger. She pulled him to the floor and once again urged him to be quiet. Crystal saw all of this and watched without saying a word.  
  
"We are looking for a trainer," answered the man in the toll booth.  
  
"Trainers're everywhere," replied Kyle.  
  
"This one may know something that we need to know. Have you seen him?" asked the guy. He held up a picture of a blue haired trainer, Cole. Kyle hid his shock by looking over at Crystal, who was in the passenger's seat.  
  
"Ever seen him before?" he asked. Crystal just stared. They all felt their safety being threatened.  
  
Cole had caught a glimpse of his picture in the rearview mirror and had been to afraid to move. He felt a slight vibration in his pocket. He wondered if Mewtwo was shaking in fear. He could feel his own heart pounding away. But, he was grateful that the clone had given him a warning.  
  
{Tell them nothing!} urged Mewtwo, directing the comment at Kyle and Crystal.  
  
"Never seen him before," answered Crystal.  
  
"Nope," agreed Kyle, turning back to the man. Luckily, the Swiftwind was so high that he couldn't see the boy laying on the ground.  
  
"Well, if you do, please tell us," answered the man. He handed them the poster with Cole's picture on it. There was a phone number on the bottom.  
  
"Sure," lied Kyle as he pulled away.  
  
They drove for several minutes in tense silence before Cole stood up.  
  
"What was that about?" he asked. Kyle silently handed him the picture. Cole studied it for a moment.  
  
"This picture was taken in the Viridian City gym," said Cole when he recognized the background.  
  
"But what is this about?" asked Crystal.  
  
{They are still looking for me,} answered Mewtwo. {They think they can find me through you.} The tension became too much for her and she darted to another hidden location in the motorhome. The three who were awake eyed each other, not knowing what to do.  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
Later that night they had found a place to park. It was quite late at night, and the only one who was asleep was Mewtwo herself. She was exhausted mentally and emotionally, and was deep asleep. The four kids were talking about that day.  
  
"What should we do?" asked Crystal. "I mean, they are actually looking for Cole now, and...."  
  
"What can we do?" asked Cole. "She needs are help, and it would be wrong to turn her in."  
  
"We don't have to turn her in," said Kyle. "I think we should just ask her to leave. She'd probably be better off on her own, anyways. I mean, if she is trying to hide from people, we aren't the best for that."  
  
"Ask her to leave and go where?" responded Cole. "She doesn't have a home." Anne watched the conversation, keeping her opinions to herself.  
  
"But it is getting more dangerous here," argued Crystal. "I think it would be better for all of us if she left."  
  
"You may be right," agreed Kyle. Cole looked at them in disbelief.  
  
"Whatever happened to helping someone in need?" asked Cole. "We can't turn our backs on her, and still be loyal to each other. That would be hypocrisy!"  
  
"Cole, they are looking for you. You are the one in the most danger here," said his sister.  
  
"I don't care," he insisted. "Do you know what she has been through?" Of course they didn't.  
  
"Let's put it to a vote," suggested Kyle. Crystal nodded. Cole glared at them in disbelief, but he was outnumbered.  
  
"There are two of us who want to ask her to leave, and Cole wants her to stay," said Crystal.  
  
"What do you think, Anne? You are the only one who hasn't spoken up," asked Kyle. Anne looked down nervously. Her picture book was open, and she had been rereading the legend of Mew.  
  
"I think she should stay," said Anne in a quiet voice.  
  
"So it is a tie," said Cole, who was secretly relieved that Anne had sided with him.  
  
"Now what, we are back to square one," said Crystal.  
  
"I say we should drop the matter, unless anyone else has any good ideas," said Cole. Anne agreed.  
  
"I think we could come up with a better answer once we've had some sleep," said Kyle. That was the end of that. The four began their evening rituals and fell asleep.  
  
*************************************************************************** ***** 


	10. Good News, Bad News

***********************************************************************  
*********  
  
It had been a hard night for Mewtwo. Half formed dreams kept circling  
in her mind; dreams of her past, the strange present, and even some  
that had to be possibilities of the future. She more than once woke  
up that night feeling fear for no reason at all.  
She was the last one to wake up the next day. She noticed that a  
somber silence had taken the four kids, but she had no idea about the  
prior night's conversation. She also felt the somber mode. Instead of  
feeling relieved that she was further away from Viridian City than she  
had ever been, she felt worse. She knew her brothers were still  
trapped, and that she was the only one with a chance of freeing them.  
Grant, that wasn't much of a chance.  
  
"What are we going to do?" Anne whispered to Cole.  
  
"I have no idea," he replied.  
  
"We can't let them kick her out," insisted Anne. "I mean, if you kick  
her out, then why won't you kick me out?"  
  
"Don't argue with me," said Cole. "I am on your side." Anne bit her  
lip and walked to the back of the RV. She tried to bury her concerns  
in reading, but her mind was far from the pages in front of her.  
  
"This is too much," Crystal said to Kyle. "We are risking everything  
by keeping her here. I think it would be better if she left. After  
all, she should be able to take care of herself."  
  
"I know, but, is that fair?" asked Kyle. "I mean, everyone in here  
has been chafed at one point in time or another. What makes our sob  
stories so much better than hers?"  
  
"We are talking about everyone's safety!" insisted Crystal.  
  
"Did you she the sign for the next exit?" asked Kyle, trying to  
distract her. In truth, he could have cared less if the fugitive  
pokemon stayed or not. But he was the following kind, easily swayed  
by his wife's words.  
  
Mewtwo found a place by the window and stared out it blankly. It  
seemed like she spent most of her time watching the outside world from  
behind a window. She had fled from slavery and earned her freedom,  
but she was still trapped, a slave to the unwritten laws of a  
fugitive. There was several similarities between her old situation  
and her new one. She was still confined to one area, still had to  
worry about the unfriendly people who wanted to harm her, still had no  
certainty about the future. But here, she was her own master, and  
that made all the difference.  
  
***********************************************************************  
*********  
  
Clone Island.....  
  
"Oh, gosh, he is getting worse," moaned one Mew to the other.  
  
"I thought you said that seeing one of his own kind would cheer his  
up," answered the  
second.  
  
"I thought it would," she replied.  
  
"What does he have to be sad about?" asked the second.  
  
"He just isn't happy," she said. "And I think he is being silly!"  
This caused both of them to break into giggles.  
  
Mewtwo was sitting by himself in solitary contemplation. The shock of  
meeting another of his kind was just beginning to fade. But, he still  
could not get her off of his mind. There was something about her,  
some feeling that she stirred, that made it impossible for him to take  
his mind off of her.  
  
"Maybe we should talk to him?" suggested the first Mew.  
  
"Let me," volunteered the second. "You haven't had much luck." He  
floated in to confront the glum clone.  
  
{Go away,} snapped Mewtwo when he saw the floating pink kitten enter.  
  
"But, Mewtwo, you haven't spoken to anyone for days. What is wrong?"  
pleaded the kitten.  
  
{Leave me in peace,} he said as he turned his back on Mew.  
  
"But, you aren't in peace now!" insisted Mew.  
  
{Go away!} yelled Mewtwo. He whirled around and his eyes began to  
glow to push the kitten away.  
  
"Quit being so stubborn and cold-hearted!" yelled Mew, who was getting  
very frustrated with Mewtwo. "You have pokemon who keep trying to be  
your friends and all you ever do is push them away! Do you want to  
live your life alone!?"  
  
Mewtwo's eyes flashed with pure anger and malice for a moment. Then,  
they faded into a kind of lonely sadness. That was all the Mew seen  
before he once again turned his back on him.  
  
"Mewtwo...." started Mew. But they were both distracted by a strange  
sense, coming from far away. Something powerful, and potentially bad  
had just happened. Their psychic powers made it possible to sense it.  
Mew froze in mid-air. Mewtwo stood stiff and rigged.  
  
"What was that?" asked Mew, trying to place this new sense.  
  
{Giovanni,} snarled Mewtwo.  
  
***********************************************************************  
*********  
  
On the road.....  
  
The day had passed without event. There seemed to be no real need to  
stop, except to eat and stretch. Cole had slipped into a kind of  
melancholia since he was unable to attain his dream of becoming a  
pokemon master. Anne had no desire to stop and train her Meowth, and  
Crystal and Kyle were happy wherever they went, as long as they were  
together.  
Mewtwo was also alone in her own thoughts, which was nothing new.  
There was so much for her to worry about, so much to go wrong that it  
was amazing that she ever found any peace of mind. Her concerns,  
lately, hadn't been on herself, but on the rest of her specie. And  
perhaps, correctly so. They were the ones who needed help, while she  
was relatively safe.  
  
"Kyle, can we stop?" asked Crystal.  
  
"Why, dear?" he asked.  
  
"I need to use the rest room," she moaned as she clutched her stomach.  
She was looking a little green.  
  
Kyle eyed her before agreeing. Luckily there was a tiny gas station  
nearby. Kyle pulled in and turned off the Swiftwind. It almost  
seemed like before the vehicle was stopped that she was racing out of  
the door, to the bathroom.  
  
"I'd better see if she is OK," volunteered Anne who slipped out behind  
her.  
  
Mewtwo jumped in surprise. She had been so distracted that she hadn't  
noticed they had stopped. She shrunk and dove for the cover of Cole's  
pocket. There had been something that had distracted her, besides her  
own musings. It was like something powerful had suddenly burst, from  
somewhere. She couldn't place it, beyond the fact that a strange  
surge of power had just happened. She had been so busy with this that  
she almost risked her freedom. She hid, silently cursing herself.  
  
"Want to grab some grub?" Kyle asked Cole.  
  
"Sure," said Cole, who was a little off guard by the pokemon's sudden  
magic act.  
  
The exited the vehicle and walked up to the counter. Scrapping  
together their change, the bought several bags of chips, a Hostess ©  
pan of brownies, some dip, and seven pieces of fried chicken, the  
traveler's feast.  
  
"Hey, bro, let's set up for dinner and surprise the girls," said Kyle.  
  
"Sure," said Cole, who was ravenous anyways.  
  
"And Crystal says I never cook for her," said Kyle, which caused Cole  
to smile. Mewtwo noticed how their demeanor had relaxed, so she was  
able to relax about three hairs.  
A few minutes later Anne helped Crystal back into the RV. But they  
stopped once they were inside, namely because of the feast that the  
boys had prepared.  
  
"Is everything OK?" asked Kyle, innocently.  
  
"Um, sure," stammered Crystal. Kyle gestured to an open chair next to  
him and she sat down.  
  
"Yeah, Crystal just got a little carsick," said Anne as she sat down  
next to Crystal. "But thanks for buying dinner."  
  
"Only a little?" asked Cole.  
  
"OK, so she had to throw-up," said Anne. This earned her a glare from  
Crystal.  
  
"Fried chicken and chips?" said Crystal as she noticed the menu.  
"Everything has to be grease and salt with you." She poked her beau  
playfully.  
  
"And what would you recommend?" he replied, jokingly.  
  
"Peanut butter and bologna sounds good about now," replied Crystal.  
She was being serious. Everyone else gave her a look of surprise and  
mild disgust at the combination.  
  
(AN/ Personally, I happen to like peanut butter and bologna.)  
  
"Crystal, are you sure you are feeling OK?" asked Cole.  
  
"I'm fine, let's eat," she replied and they dug in.  
  
Mewtwo kept herself hidden until well after they were on the road  
again.  
It was getting late and the sun was about the set. Kyle kept looking  
out the side window for a trailer park, but he wasn't having much  
luck. Crystal was sitting besides him. Anne and Cole were playing  
cards in the back. Meowth and Growlithe were having another one of  
their private debates. (Cats and dogs, go figure!)  
  
"Kyle, can you roll down the window, I am getting hot," complained  
Crystal. Her face was a little flushed.  
  
"Sure," agreed Kyle as he hit the button on his side door. The one on  
her side was broken. It was on Kyle's growing "fix-it" list.  
  
"Crystal, are you sure you are OK?" asked Cole when he started  
listening in on their conversation. "You haven't seemed well all  
day."  
  
"I'm fine," insisted Crystal.  
  
"Found a place to park!" exclaimed Kyle. It wasn't much. It was an  
abandoned hotel parking lot. But they could spend the night, assuming  
no nightly patrol officer decided to harass her.  
  
Kyle pulled into the back, out of sight of most normal traffic. He  
turned off the motorhome and the group began to file out. Mewtwo  
stayed inside. It was too close to other humans for her to feel safe.  
But she wasn't alone. Crystal stayed sitting.  
  
"Come on, Crys," said Kyle.  
  
"I'll be fine here," she said. "I am just feeling a little dizzy."  
  
"Are you getting sick?" asked Kyle, her voice laced with concern.  
  
"No, it has just been a big day," insisted Crystal.  
  
Mewtwo had heard every bit of conversation in the past twenty-four  
hours, and she wasn't at all convinced by the constant denial of the  
girl. She stepped forward, determined to find out for herself. She  
wanted nothing bad to happen to one of the kind humans who had taken  
her in.  
  
{May I?} she asked. She held up her tri-fingered paw to Crystals  
head. Kyle watched with apprehension, but Crystal nodded, giving her  
consent.  
Mewtwo summoned her powers and did a quick scan of Crystal, checking  
for any viruses or infections. She found none of those. But what she  
did find surprised her. She took a step back and looked Crystal over.  
  
"What is it? Is she OK?" demanded Kyle.  
  
{Yes.....} said Mewtwo, not knowing exactly how to word what she  
wanted to say. {But.....}  
  
"But what?" asked Crystal.  
  
Mewtwo took a deep breath and continued. She began to wonder if it  
was her place to say, or if she never should have gotten involved.  
{You are pregnant.}  
  
"What!" exclaimed Crystal.  
  
"You're joking!" insisted Kyle. "She can't be pregnant!"  
  
{She is,} repeated Mewtwo.  
  
"But, but...." stammered Kyle, his face turning several shades of red.  
Crystal, on the other hand, was beaming.  
  
"You are going to be a daddy!" she exclaimed as she walked over and  
wrapped her arms around his neck. This caused Kyle's protests to die.  
  
"What is the matter?" asked Cole as he walked over with Anne. They  
had heard the commotion, but had no idea about the prior conversation.  
  
"We are going to have a baby!" said Crystal, her face was glowing.  
  
"What? Are you serious?" asked Anne. Crystal and Mewtwo nodded.  
  
"Crystal!" exclaimed Cole, somewhat indignant.  
  
"What?" she replied, innocently.  
  
"I think we should celebrate," said Anne. She was smiling too,  
although her smile wasn't as big as Crystal's. Cole was shocked, and  
Kyle seemed stupefied.  
  
"What is the matter with you two?" asked Crystal.  
  
"Sure, a party," stammered Kyle. "I think there is a movie we can  
watch on TV. Cole can make popcorn...."  
  
Cole nodded, numbly. Anne walked over and flipped on the small TV  
set. Cole still had yet to move.  
  
"Come on!" said Crystal. She grabbed his hand and began to help him  
make the popcorn.  
  
Soon, everyone had gotten comfortable around the TV set. Several bowls  
of popcorn were scattered around, for anyone to help themselves.  
Growlithe and Meowth had both found their way into their trainers'  
arms. Crystal and Kyle were in each other's arms. Mewtwo had taken  
her spot in the back.  
  
But, it seemed just as they sat down to enjoy the movie, it was  
interrupted. A special news bulletin flashed across the scene.  
  
"Hey!" protested Cole, who was really getting into the movie.  
  
"We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring a sudden news  
update...."  
  
"I am here," said a reporter, "in Viridian City. A massive assault  
has just been launched from the gym." In the background was the  
sounds of fighting. Pictures of small explosions occasionally  
highlighted the screen. People were running and several rocket grunts  
could be seen doing whatever they pleased. "Even as I speak hundreds  
of members of Team Rocket are swarming the city. The citizens are  
fleeing."  
  
"Oh, my!" exclaimed Crystal, who was horrified. Anne face bore a  
similar expression.  
  
"This can't be happening!" stammered Cole.  
  
"Team Rocket is going to take the city, it is only a matter of time,"  
the reporter continued.  
  
"Nothing the police have done has stopped the onslaught. Citizens in  
nearby towns are being asked to evacuate."  
  
"What...why....?" stammered Kyle, who was holding his wife tightly.  
  
"The biggest surprise is the figure dictating this," said the  
reporter. The camera zoomed in to the Viridian City gym. There,  
perched on top of his multimillion dollar helicopter was Giovanni.  
"Giovanni, the leader of this gym, has just come out of hiding his  
true colors. We believe that Giovanni is none other than a member of  
Team Rocket, and quite possibly their leader. He is the one staging  
this assault, with the help of the gym pokemon he is notorious for  
using."  
  
The camera once again changed position. This time, it focused on a  
psychic feline, wearing dark armor. The camera caught it as it shot a  
wave of psychic energy down on the unprepared town, causing an  
explosion.  
  
"It is getting too intense! We have to leave!" yelled the reporter.  
The screen cut to an aerial view as the reporter and cameraman ran for  
their lives.  
  
The members of the Swiftwind watched in stunned silence. Then, one by  
one, they turned their eyes to Mewtwo. But she didn't see them. Her  
eyes were big with shock, horror, and fright. 


	11. Brother, My Brother

AN/ Q has a question for Sandact6..... Was the quote you used in the last review from Command and Conquer? With business out of the way, on with the fic! And, as always, please read, review, and enjoy! (  
  
"What is happening?" asked Crystal. She said it to the everyone, but the question was directed at Mewtwo.  
  
{He's.....He's finally done it,} Mewtwo stammered. She, of all present, wanted most to not believe what she was seeing. The TV played the destruction of Viridian City with fearful clarity.  
  
"Who's done what?" asked Kyle. "Isn't Giovanni supposed to be some respectable citizen or something?"  
  
{Respectable!} shouted Mewtwo. Her mental voice was loud, and bordered on a shriek. She was clearly upset and agitated by this.  
  
"Is he really the leader of Team Rocket?" asked Anne, who was watching the TV in horror.  
  
{Yes,} replied Mewtwo, as if any kindergartner should know that.  
  
"But, why is he doing all of this?" asked Cole.  
  
{Do you know what Team Rocket stands for?} she asked. {He wants to rule the world. That has been his plan from the beginning. Why do you think Team Rocket has focused on stealing powerful pokemon? He is using them in his army. Why do you think he started a gym? For money and for a position to find those powerful pokemon. Why do you think his gym was set in the most powerful league? Because once he seized that league, the rest would fall. As a gym leader he had the perfect alibi. No one would have ever suspected him. .....I heard rumors...... I never imagined, I never wanted it to go this far.....}  
  
"This far?" asked a wide-eyed Crystal.  
  
{Why do you think that he ordered our creation?} she asked, in a low tone. {He wanted to control the strongest pokemon in the world, so that he could never be beaten in real battle. The gym had always been a rouse.}  
  
"Oh dear Lord," gasped Anne.  
  
"I'm sorry.... that is so awful," muttered Crystal.  
  
"That dude is screwed up," muttered Kyle.  
  
"This never could have happened if I freed them," thought Mewtwo as she began to curse herself.  
  
The TV continued to show footage from whatever angle they could get at. People with scarlet 'R's' across their chest wear looting the city. The citizens were in a panic. Some were fleeing, some were fighting. But it was clear that Team Rocket was winning. Through it all the psychic blasts kept illuminating the screen.  
  
"My brothers," she thought, broken hearted. But then, it was like a spark had ignited a fire inside of her. Something inside of her had snapped. A look of determination crossed her eyes.  
  
"This is so.....wrong," stammered Crystal.  
  
"Is there anything that can be done?" asked Cole.  
  
{Maybe,} answered Mewtwo. {It is time I do something I should have done a long time ago. I may be the only one who can do anything.} With that she Teleported out of the vehicle and started to fly to Viridian City.  
  
"What is she doing?" asked Kyle.  
  
"She is going there," said Cole, pointing to the screen. If anyone present had considered turning the TV off, that thought was driven far from their minds.  
  
"But, she could get really hurt!" protested Anne, even though it was too late for protests. "And she is so outnumbered......" But the others didn't reply. They were too busy watching the small black and white set.  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
Mewtwo pushed herself to go faster and faster. She was running to the very place she had fled from. But she knew she had to do it. It was her fault, her cowardice, that had kept her brothers prisoners. And now, they were being forced to do Giovanni's evil work. She had to correct her mistake, she had to.  
  
Mentally, she was reviewing every battle she had ever fought against them, looking for a weakness that she could use if it came do to a fight. She was also searching for the words to convince them to come with her. She was desperately trying to form a plan for a desperate situation, and it wasn't working.  
  
{I'm sorry,} she said to the wind. {Please don't let me be too late.}  
  
After some time Viridian City loomed in front of her. Smoke was rising. The entire city wasn't lit with street lights any more, but small explosions. It was completely chaos, and she was heading straight into it. A stream of vehicles were clogging every roadway out of the city. A few news helicopters circled at a safe distance. Mewtwo summoned her courage and dropped into the mess.  
  
It wasn't hard to find her youngest brother, the last of the four created. His power signal could be sensed from outside of the city limits. She head right for him. The others of her kind were the biggest threat to Viridian's population. If she could stop her brothers, the Giovanni and his grunts would be easy enough to deal with.  
  
When she saw him he was busy fighting off the police force. The roads were pitted from repeated Shadow Balls. One traffic light was down, sending sparks flying occasionally. Officer Jenny was hiding behind her vehicle, futilely trying to radio for back up. Her brother had just summoned his powers for another attack, one that would surely devastate the remaining police officers.  
  
Mewtwo dive in front of him and put up a Barrier, just in time to deflect him attack. {Stop this!} she pleaded. {Stop before anyone dies!}  
  
{You came back!} he gasped.  
  
{Stop this. Please, don't listen to Giovanni. This is madness!} she begged.  
  
{You don't understand,} he countered. {You don't know what it has been like, after you left..... You don't know.... you can't possibly know......} He sounded near hysterical.  
  
{What happened?} she asked.  
  
"What is going on?" asked Officer Jenny to another policeman below.  
  
"I didn't want to think there'd be more than one of those things," he muttered. "But it sounds like she is pleading with him."  
  
"This may just buy us the time we need," said Officer Jenny. "Keep your weapons aimed on the one in the armor!"  
  
{It was awful,} he brother answered. {It hurt so much worse.....}  
  
{Then why do you continue to do his orders?} she interrupted. {I can help. Just give me a moment, and you can be free of him.}  
  
{He'd kill me!} he exclaimed, truly afraid. {If I do what he says...... it won't hurt so much.....}  
  
{You can't possibly hope to continue this?!} she gasped.  
  
{I have no choice,} he replied, but it came out like a sob. {He killed our other brother. He'd do the same to me. He'll kill you if you aren't careful.....}  
  
{Our....other.....brother......} she stammered.  
  
{He had a brain aneurysm one night when they tried to take his powers from him, like they do every night...... you remember....} he continued.  
  
{No..... please.....no,} she gasped.  
  
{AGGHHHH!} he suddenly screamed. Mewtwo jumped at her brother's outburst. Nothing at hit him. But, she looked closer. Sparks were flying out of the armor.  
  
{What did Giovanni do?} she demanded.  
  
{He made it...... He made it so the armor hurts if I disobey,} he stammered. {I have to fight you now, I am sorry.}  
  
A Shadow Ball grew in his hands, which he launched at her. She barely had time to dodge it. She jumped higher into the air and put up a Barrier. The last thing she wanted to do was fight her brother, but it looked like she had no choice.  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
"So, she has returned," said Giovanni to himself as he watched from a safe distance on top of his helicopter. "Things are going better then I could have ever imagined. First, I shall reclaim my property, than I will take the city, then the league, then the world." He then laughed very evilly at this.  
  
He turned to one of his elites, who was next to him. "See to it that the branch nearest to Victory Road is ours. That part if crucial for the rest of my plans."  
  
"Right, boss," said the elite. He snapped to attention, then raced off to carry out the orders.  
  
Giovanni hit a button, an intercom. It was wired directly to the armor Mewtwo wore. He knew this was vital, do to the distance and chaos of the battle. "Knock her out, hurt her, do anything but kill her. I want her back in my possession. See to it that happens, or else." His finger hovered over the button that would produce the electric shock. Mewtwo didn't reply.  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
"There she is!" exclaimed Anne as she pointed to Mewtwo on the TV set. Another ground crew had set up besides the police, at the risk of their own lives. But still, images were being sent by helicopter. The scenes seemed to shift from one angle to another at the worst time.  
  
"It looks like she is going to fight him," muttered Crystal.  
  
"That can't be good," said Cole. "What is going to happen to everything that gets caught in their fight?"  
  
"But someone has to stop that madman," said Kyle.  
  
"Didn't she say that there were three others?" asked Anne. "Where are the other two?"  
  
"One escaped years ago, but I don't know about the third," answered Cole.  
  
"I can't believe she is fighting, all alone," muttered Crystal. Her left hand was protectively circling her belly. Her right hand was locked in Kyle's.  
  
"Dude, I hate sitting, watching this," said Kyle.  
  
He slammed his free fist onto the floor. At least, he was aiming for the floor. But instead he hit a bowl of popcorn. The fluffy white kernels were sent flying everywhere around the RV. Meowth jumped up and began to pounce on them as they landed. This earned her a scolding from Growlithe.  
  
"We could go there," suggested Cole. The instant the words were out of his mouth her regretted them.  
  
"That is insane!" exclaimed Crystal.  
  
"Well, if we stay safely from the city," muttered Anne. "It's not like we could even get there much sooner than morning......."  
  
"Well, some needs to watch her back," said Kyle, who seemed to really like the idea. "She is going to have a lot of explaining to do, and I doubt that anyone would listen to her."  
  
"Let's go," said Anne.  
  
"Anne!" exclaimed Cole, shocked.  
  
"Well, that's three for it," said Kyle.  
  
"Three!?" gasped Cole.  
  
"Sure, Anne and me. And it was your idea, so I guess you're coming to," answered Kyle. He didn't wait for a reply. Not like he would have gotten one, Cole was still standing with his mouth hanging open. Kyle turned on the Swiftwind and peeled rubber.  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
Mewtwo had to dodge another Shadow Ball that was thrown at her by her brother. Bitter memories about all the battles she had been forced to fight against them were surfacing. And now, she again had to fight her own brother. The other was dead, and she had never seen his face....  
  
She countered with a Shadow Ball of her own. It was a direct hit. Unfortunately, it did minimal damaged because of the armor he wore. The armor was a trade of; higher defense for lower speed.  
  
He raised a paw and began to gather electricity in it. A moment later a beautiful and dangerous Thunderbolt illuminated the night sky of the terror engulfed Viridian City. Mewtwo did her best to dodge it and tried to rely on her Barrier, but some Thundershocks found their mark.  
  
{Brother, please, let me free you! I don't want to hurt you!} she begged.  
  
{If I don't attack you, he'll hurt me,} replied her brother, sadly. {If I let you close, he will kill me, I am sure of that.} The death of the other one still stood out in his mind like a phantom of the night.  
  
"What am I going to do?" she thought. "I don't want to hurt him, but I can't let him hurt me, because then I'll end up back in Giovanni's clutches. I am going to have to disable him long enough to get that armor off!"  
  
She started to flood her Barrier with power and dove down, colliding with him head on. The concussion rattled both of them, but they were still far from out of the fight. She had noticed his fighting skills had increased since the last time she had been forced to fight him. She wondered if it was because he was so afraid, or if he had been forced to train harder, or maybe both.  
  
He raised his arms again and created another Shadow Ball. She deflected it and it was sent to the street below, leaving yet another monstrous pothole. She countered with a Fire Blast, hoping to overheat the electronics that were holding him prisoner. He raised his arms around his face and managed to put up a feeble Barrier as the attack struck.  
  
The Fire Blast didn't seem like enough to stop his assault. He summoned his energy and shot a Hyper Beam at her. Once again the darkness of the night was shattered by this multi-colored attack. Mewtwo had no real time to dodge it, so she did what she could to strengthen her Barrier. She felt an intense pain as the bulk of his attack hit her shoulder. But she knew what would come next.  
  
He was breathing hard from doing such a draining move. She jumped higher into the air and circled behind him, before attack with Psywave, aimed at his exposed shoulder blades. He gasped in pain and lost some altitude. She began to feel guilty about hurting him, but there was little time for guilt as he recovered.  
  
He jumped up and twirled around to face her. His eyes flashed blue beneath the helmet as he used Swift. Apparently either he or Giovanni were getting sick of missed attack. She felt the first few stars bite into her. Then she countered with Ice Beam, freezing the rest of his attack in midair before hitting him directly on the chest-plate.  
  
{Go, now, please,} he begged. {If you leave I won't have to hurt you, and you won't have to hurt me. If you leave Giovanni won't hurt me for failing.}  
  
{I can't leave you here!} she protested. {I will not let Giovanni continue to hurt and manipulate our kind.}  
  
he muttered, sadly. She had to bite her lip to keep from saying more.  
  
In the silence he had charged for another attack. Another Shadow Ball was launched, but she failed to see it in the dark. It hit her under the chin and sent her spiraling into a bus stop. She rose again, slower, and clearly in pain. To vivid memories of similar incidents during her training in the gym were surfacing.  
  
"It's not fair, it never was," she said to herself.  
  
She saw that he had formed another Shadow Ball. She quickly Teleported behind him and struck the bare place on his back with another Psywave. He again turned to face her, but she Minimized and shot behind him again. She kept going until she was several stories over him before she emerged to her full height. He looked around, trying to find her, but he didn't look up as high as she was.  
  
Mewtwo charged her Barrier again and dove at him with as much strength and speed as she could muster. She hit him full on when he was unprepared in probably the most intense Take Down ever. He was sent into the street, snapping a telephone pole in two on his way down. He took to the air again, his armor preventing most of the damage.  
  
It was now approaching early morning. The chaos of the initial assault was fading, namely because Team Rocket's main weapon had different things to worry about. The back ups that Officer Jenny had radioed for were arriving. But Giovanni still has a stronghold on the city. The fight was not near over.  
  
The two Mewtwos faced off again, each forming a Shadow Ball in their paws. They sent them flying at the same time, which created a strange, dark explosion over the buildings of Viridian City.  
  
As the explosion faded a Thunderbolt was sent straight at her. She barely had time to react. She waved her wrist and the string of electricity was sent straight back at him. He jumped higher into the air and managed to avoid most of the returned attack.  
  
What he didn't see was her Ice Beam heading straight at him. She had anticipated that he would dodge it this way, so she was ready with her own attack. It hit him in the left shoulder, knocking out some of the wiring in the armor he had been wearing. He shakily rose to her level, ready for the battle to continue.  
  
He threw off her next Psywave, sending it into the infinite sky. His arms went up as he Detected her next attack, so it rolled off of him as well. Their battlefield once more went dark as the attacks faded. But then, it was brilliantly lit up again. Another Hyper Beam was shot at her. She was not prepared for this one. It struck her in the stomach and she was sent into a fire hydrant.  
  
A geyser of water shot into the air as she struggled to her feet. She was hurting. But, they both had taken their hits. And they had both felt the drain from such a long, enduring battle. It was now becoming a fight of who would outlast the other.  
  
Two Barriers glowed like two orbs in the gradually lightening sky. They glared each other down for a moment, each trying to recover and find a winning strategy. Without warning he attacked with a powerful Psychic, which sent her flying backwards several yards.  
  
Breathing hard, she forced herself higher into the air before launching several attacks. First and Ice Beam hit him in the already damaged left shoulder. Then she followed it up with a Thunder. He strengthen his Barrier, trying to Endure it. But she was relentless. After the Thunder came a Psywave. He was forced lower in the air. Then, she gathered her strength for a radiant Hyper Beam. He was knocked through a roof.  
  
She landed on the same building, needing a moment to rest. The volley of attacks had pushed her strength to the limits. Her only hope was that it was the end.  
  
Suddenly, the entire building began to shake. Shingles and aluminum siding fell to the ground. She jumped into the air as her brother tore off the roof of the building, glowing a menacing blue that illuminated the entire destroyed street.  
  
They once again faced each other, hovering about three stories off of the ground. There was a moment's pause while each tried to recover their energy to launch another attack. It was questionable how much longer either would last.  
  
Two Psywaves were suddenly shot forward, exploding between them with unbelievable force. There was no damage sustained for either fighter, though. He jumped higher into the air and shot a Shadow Ball down at her, hoping the height would give him some advantage. But she threw it back at him with double the force that it had been sent at her. His Barrier and armor took most of the damage, but still he felt the pain of the attack.  
  
She used this time to position herself directly in front of him. She launched a Flame-thrower at him. But that wasn't it. She increased her Barrier and shot forward, mixing Take Down with the fiery mass. He had a split second to pour in all his strength to his Barrier. She hit him like a fiery inferno.  
  
In a mass of energy, they both began to fall. They were tired and hurt. But somehow they both managed to catch themselves before they collided with the ground. They faced off again, ready to continue the battle.  
  
BOOM! A different attack came from nowhere, striking him directly in the left shoulder. He gasped in pain before falling to the street, too weak to stop himself.  
  
"A direct hit," reported the police officer.  
  
"Nice shooting," complimented Officer Jenny as he set the high-powered riffle down.  
  
Instinct took over for Mewtwo. She dove after him and caught him a moment before he would have hit the pavement backwards. That surely would have been fatal, had anything happened to the second neck he had. That 'neck', if you want to call it that, had been designed to carry extra blood, extra oxygen, to their psychic brains. They needed it to function. But if it got severed in some way, they would certainly bleed to death very quickly.  
  
Mewtwo kept her brother hovered a few feet off of the ground. Her eyes glowed blue and she turned his armor to atoms, probably not an instant too soon. For the first time, she actually saw the face of her brother.  
  
{I'm.... sorry......} he gasped.  
  
{Don't apologize,} she ordered. {Hold still.}  
  
His left shoulder was a bloody mess. Luckily, the bullets had barely missed his heart, barely. She once again summoned her powers as she tried her best to stop the bleeding. But she wasn't a very skilled healer.  
  
{Keep talking to me,} she ordered, worried that he would go into shock.  
  
{I.... wish that none of this had to happen,} he replied, feebly.  
  
{We can't change it,} she answered.  
  
"Freeze!" came a new voice. The police had taken this time to surround them. Mewtwo felt their weapons level at her and her brother. She did freeze, not knowing what to do. She could disable them, but it may cost her brother more than she could afford.  
  
"I don't think so," interrupted a second voice. "These pokemon are the property of Team Rocket." Mewtwo's eyes flashed with malice, but she was still too focused on her patient to do anything.  
  
Various rocket grunts had also surrounded them. They too had their weapons raised, some at the police, and some at the pokemon. The line was drawn, and the two Mewtwos were stuck in the middle.  
  
Then, something completely unexpected happened. The entire area began to glow once again. The humans who had surrounded them were thrown back several yards.  
  
Mewtwo looked up, trying to determine what had happened. Much to her own surprise the other remaining member of their specie landed beside her. He was glowing a bright blue and bore a look of sheer hatred. 


	12. Rumors

"There's three of them!" gasped Officer Jenny. "I need more back-up!" She yelled into her walkie-talkie.  
  
{You came?!} she gasped. He didn't even look at her. The first Mewtwo's eyes burned with hatred for the humans surrounding him. But he knew better than to openly attack. They were in a bad situation. A single missed placed attack could mean the humans would open fire.  
  
"Hold it there!" barked another voice. A large Team Rocket elite stepped forward to confront to officers. "This is our town, and these pokemon are our property. Leave them...." He never got to finish what he was saying. Mewtwo picked him up and held him several feet above the street, slowly squeezing the life out of him. Agony crossed the man's face.  
  
{Stop it!} cried Mewtwo, afraid of what her predecessor would do to him. {You can't kill him....}  
  
{They deserve death,} he spat. But he only held his prisoner for a moment longer, before throwing him through the roof of a nearby SUV. The vehicle was totaled, but the rocket agent should survive.  
  
A few rocket grunts who saw this turned tail and ran, afraid for their own safety. It may have seemed like cowardice, but they were probably the smartest ones in the entire area. The air cracked with tension between psychic powers and loaded guns.  
  
{Hurts....} her brother moaned, weakly. Mewtwo could feel him sliding into unconsciousness. She had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that this was a bad thing.  
  
{Hang in there, please,} she pleaded and again focused her powers on trying to heal him. She knew this was futile, though. {Please,} she said, turning to her predecessor. {I don't care what grudge you have with them.... But if we do not leave and get our brother help, we will lose him.} His eyes flickered over her, then over the form of the third member of his specie. He seemed to be calculating everything in his mind.  
  
{There may be very little we can do at this point. We may not even get out of here,} he said. Mewtwo puzzled for a moment. There seemed to be a note of sadness in his voice. She was shocked to hear emotions coming from him.  
  
"What are the orders?" whispered one officer to Jenny.  
  
"Our biggest concern is with Team Rocket. Don't let them out of your sight," she answered.  
  
"Now what?" asked one grunt to the remaining elite.  
  
"The boss wants those pokemon, at all costs," answered the elite.  
  
{What are we going to do?} asked Mewtwo as she gazed over the injured form of her brother.  
  
Her predecessor didn't answer. He seemed to have figured something he. He realized who the greatest threat was.  
  
Mewtwo spun and launched a full out assault on the remaining Team Rocket agents. He didn't aim to kill, though he wanted to. He focused on knocking them out and scattering them around the city.  
  
BANG! In the attack a gun went off. It was hard to say which side it came from. Instinctively two Barriers formed, protecting the three Mewtwos from the bullet. Mewtwo's eyes burned again as he focused his fabled anger on the police.  
  
{Don't do it!} she begged. {I need your help..... He's not going to last much longer.} Her brother had become unconscious. His life was flowing out of him like his blood.  
  
"Let me through!" came a voice from the back of the police force.  
  
"Nurse Joy, we are going to have to ask you to stay back," said one officer as he tried to restrain her. "This is a battle zone."  
  
"I don't care," she replied, pushing through. "There's an injured pokemon. And it is my duty as a pokemon nurse to help."  
  
"Those pokemon are dangerous," warned Officer Jenny. She had to duck as Mewtwo sent another rocket agent flying.  
  
"That is because you have them cornered like some wild beast!" exclaimed Nurse Joy. "You don't treat pokemon like that. Don't you think they've gone through enough with Team Rocket? They are only trying to defend themselves."  
  
"You can't go near them!" protested one officer.  
  
"This is my job," she replied, curtly. "No one can heal if everyone is trying to hurt everyone else. Back off and let me handle this."  
  
"What are the orders?" he asked, turning to Officer Jenny.  
  
Officer Jenny looked Nurse Joy over for a moment, weighing the odds. "Do as she says, but keep your weapons ready."  
  
The officers nodded and Nurse Joy walked forward, into the middle where the three Mewtwos were.  
  
The first Mewtwo glared at her. For a moment everyone feared that he would attack her. But at the last second he held back. Still, he never took his eyes off of her, as if he was waiting for her to make a wrong move. The other two had barely noticed her presence.  
  
"I mean no harm to you," said Nurse Joy, trying to be as polite as possible. She held her arms up to she that was unarmed and vulnerable. "I want to help. One of you is injured."  
  
Only then did Mewtwo look up from pouring her strength into her brother. She saw the flaming red hair of the pokemon nurse. Vague memories of her name being mentioned in conversations of rocket grunts surfaced in her minds. Mewtwo knew she was a skilled healer and that half of Team Rocket had a crush on her or one of her family. Mewtwo was also surprised to see how gentle her demeanor was. But, she was still human.  
  
{Stand away,} ordered the oldest Mewtwo. {This is not your fight. If you do not back down you will get caught in it.} Mewtwo seemed even more surprised by his tone. He was actually warning the pokemon nurse.  
  
"I can't just watch him suffer," she explained. "I am the best qualified in the area to help him. Please, trust me. I don't want to see anyone else get hurt tonight."  
  
"What should we do" Mewtwo asked herself. "We can't heal him and protect ourselves. I don't want to lose another brother. But, can we trust her with his fate? This is all too much!" She looked down at the pale form on front of her. His breathing was erratic and he had already lost a lot of blood.  
  
"Let me take him to the pokemon center," continued Nurse Joy. She was gathering a bit more courage, because it looked like she wasn't going to get blasted. "I...."  
  
{Save your tongue,} snapped the oldest Mewtwo. His sister looked at him, shocked by how rude he was being. But she did not know his thoughts. He was just as torn as she was.  
  
"With all the humans I have seen, none have cared about pokemon more than Nurse Joys," thought Mewtwo. "But, to actually trust a human..... What other choice is there?"  
  
{What are we going to do?} she asked him, quietly. {I don't want him to die.} Her eyes grew big with fear at that thought.  
  
Mewtwo surveyed the scene; the fleeing grunts, the lingering chaos, the nervous officers, and Nurse Joy trying to remain calm for their sake. Mewtwo was torn on his decision. The only thing he could think about was the time he controlled a Nurse Joy. He slowly nodded, hoping he had not made the wrong choice.  
  
Mewtwo got the hint. She rose and turned to the pokemon nurse. she begged as she gave Nurse Joy room to get to the injured Mewtwo.  
  
Nurse Joy nodded and moved forward, after she motioned for Officer Jenny to radio an ambulance.  
  
{Do not think we won't be watching you,}said Mewtwo as he glared at her. {Do not think you can take advantage of one of us.} The pokemon nurse only nodded.  
  
He jumped higher into the sky, giving himself a better view of the area. She joined hi,, but she never took her eyes off of Nurse Joy and her brother.  
  
{Now what?} she asked, sadly.  
  
{I still have things to do,} he replied curtly, and set off for Giovanni's helicopter.  
  
she called.  
  
{Do not let those humans out of your sight,} he told her. At first she was mad because he told her what to do. But that burned out, replaced by concern. She was worried about her brother's life, and she was worried about what her predecessor would do.  
  
She shook her head and jumped higher into the sky so she was hidden in the smoke, which was blotting out the dawn sun. She tried not to focus on the destruction around her, but rather on the vehicle that raced towards the pokemon center, the vehicle that would determine if her brother would live or die.  
  
Later.....  
  
Mewtwo was waiting anxiously on the roof of the pokemon center. She was out of view her from the people below, who were trying to restore order to Viridian City. But her attention wasn't focused on them. Her concern was for her brother, who was in surgery for his shoulder.  
  
She had watched, using her psychic powers. At first it seemed like Nurse Joy was fighting a losing battle against death. But her skill and gentle hands managed to pull him back. But he was still far from recovered. Mewtwo felt her stomach knot again when she thought of everything that could go wrong; of all the odds stacked against them.  
  
To turn her focus and worries off of what she couldn't control, she began to listen to the conversations in the street. People were reporting various injuries and atrocities done by Team Rocket. But it seemed like for the most part the evil gang was fleeing. Rescue workers and reporters flitted in and out of the mess.  
  
Then, one snatch of conversation caught her ear.  
  
"....dead, that's what I heard," said one person.  
  
"How?" asked another.  
  
"Don't know, all I know is the leader of TR is dead," said the second.  
  
"Did he.... kill Giovanni?" Mewtwo asked herself. She hoped it was a baseless rumor, for some reason she wasn't sure of. Perhaps she did not want to think of a member of her kind as a killer.  
  
She began to listen to the conversations with renewed interests. For the most part the conversations dealt with emotions, damage, and personal experiences. But, she did hear the rumor a few more times. It sounded like Giovanni was really dead.  
  
Then she gasped, her fur rising on end. She felt her oldest brother land behind her. It was time to find out the truth, she decided. 


	13. Family

{Is it true?} she asked. What did it matter? Giovanni deserved to die. But it was an awful idea thinking her brother had actually killed him.  
  
{What?} he asked.  
  
{That Giovanni is.....dead?}  
  
{Yes,} he replied, coldly. She gaped at him. {You think I was the one to kill him.}  
  
{You didn't?}  
  
{No, though I was going to,} he answered. {But he was dead when I arrived.}  
  
{What happened?}  
  
{His ambitions were his undoing. His love of power cost him the loyalties of his men. During the battle they turned on him. They shot him in the head.}  
  
Her eyes were wide upon hearing this.  
  
{So how is the other?} asked Mewtwo, his eyes sliding to the poke-center below them.  
  
{He is recovering,} she answered. {The humans have done all they can for the night. He is resting.} Mewtwo nodded.  
  
**************************************************************************** ****  
  
"We finally made it!" exclaimed Kyle as he parked the Swiftwind in the Viridian City poke-center parking lot.  
  
"But I don't think my lunch did," moaned Cole.  
  
"And it looks like we missed most of the action," sighed Crystal.  
  
"Good...." muttered Anne, quietly.  
  
"Meerrrr," agreed Meowth.  
  
"Go you think she's alright?" asked Crystal. "That battle looked pretty rough."  
  
"I guess we'll have to go in and find out," answered Cole. "If any pokemon got hurt, Nurse Joy would know."  
  
"Then what are we waiting for, mates?" asked Kyle, who was already out of the motorhome. They climbed out and entered the poke-center together.  
  
{What are they doing here?} asked Mewtwo as she saw them from her perch on the roof.  
  
{Human children,} spat Mewtwo.  
  
{They are the ones who took me in and kept me safe,} she snapped back, indignant on their behalf.  
  
Mewtwo glanced at them again. While they still had yet to meet him approval, for her sake he would remain silent.  
  
Inside of the poke-center was complete chaos. Nurse Joy had her work cute out for her from the battle the previous night. Not to mention with Team Rocket headquarters raided, a whole lot of abused pokemon had been found.  
  
"It's a mad house in here!" exclaimed Crystal. People rushed around, trying to find those who had disappeared in the night. Trainers mingled, waiting for their pokemon to be healed. Chanseys pushed patients around on stretchers.  
  
"Don't worry, baby, I'm here," cooed Kyle in her ear.  
  
She giggled. "Just because I am pregnant does not mean I'm fragile." She patted her belly.  
  
"It normally isn't like this," sighed Cole. The group found some space in a corner where they wouldn't be trampled.  
  
"So how are we going to find her in this chaos?" asked Anne, who was on her toes, trying to see over the heads of everyone in the center.  
  
"Growlithe!" chimed Growlithe. She darted away from Cole and started to race through the center, under the legs of the mingling people.  
  
"Growlithe! Wait!" protested Cole as he started to follow her. He pushed his way through the crowds, his friends close behind him.  
  
Growlithe darted outside as another group of people entered. With much pushing and shoving, the four teens followed. The early morning air was cool compared to the confusion of the poke-center.  
  
"Growlithe, where are you?" called Cole.  
  
"Growl!" she barked, coming from the corner of the building. She then darted behind it.  
  
"What kind of game is this?" asked Anne. But they were too preoccupied to answer.  
  
They all paused when they got to the back of the building. They knew why Growlithe led them here.  
  
{You came?} she asked, truly surprised that they were so loyal to her.  
  
"We saw the fight on TV and got worried," answered Kyle with a shrug.  
  
{I never realized you cared so much,} she said, truly touched.  
  
"What happened?" asked Crystal.  
  
Mewtwo paused before starting the story.  
  
Anne, who was in the back of the group, started to glance around. She got the feeling like they were being watched. She looked up and saw a strange shadow watching them. She thought she had to be mistaken, because Mewtwo was down here with them.  
  
"She did say there were others....." thought Anne, but she kept her suspicions quiet.  
  
{I came back only to find my youngest brother still a prisoner to Team Rocket,} Mewtwo started her story. {They were forcing him to fight, at threat of his life.}  
  
"The b-------," swore Kyle.  
  
{I knew the only way to free him was to fight him. That was something I never wanted to do,} she sighed. {But I did. The battle was a stalemate. But my brother was shot by one of your police officers. He is in the poke- center now, healing.}  
  
"Woah....." muttered Crystal.  
  
"What are you going to do?" asked Cole.  
  
{I'm not quite sure,} she answered, with some thought. {It is clear my kind isn't safe around here. As soon as my brother is better, we are leaving.}  
  
"Where will you go?" asked Anne.  
  
{I'm not sure...... Some place where we can live in peace.}  
  
"Just the two of you? It seems kind of lonely," commented Cole.  
  
{No, the three of us,} she replied, smiling slightly.  
  
"Mer?" asked Meowth. 'Three?'  
  
{My oldest brother, the one they told me was dead, he is alive,} she answered. {Now we don't have to live alone any more.}  
  
"Did you say there was four, though?" asked Kyle.  
  
Her smile turned to sadness. {There was. The third....... He died as Giovanni's prisoner. Giovanni killed him.....} She looked like she was going to cry.  
  
"I'm sorry," muttered Crystal. There was really nothing else to say.  
  
{I appreciate your concern,} she said. {But this is probably going to be one of the last times we talk.}  
  
"Well, if you ever need a had, you know who to look for," said Kyle.  
  
"Yeah," agreed the rest.  
  
{Thanks,} said Mewtwo, happy that she had learned about human compassion. {Good-bye.} She took her place back on the roof.  
  
They all waved, even though she hadn't gone that far. They then walked around to the front of the poke-center, to their motorhome.  
  
{Oh, and Crystal,} Mewtwo called privately. The girl looked up, even though she didn't see the speaker. {You may want to make up with your family. You may want to tell them there is a grandchild on the way.}  
  
Crystal paused, not thinking about that. But the psychic clone did have a good point.  
  
{I fail to see how sentimental you get around humans,} said the oldest Mewtwo, coldly.  
  
{That is because you don't see any good in them. But I do,} she answered.  
  
{So what are you going to do now?}  
  
{I could ask you the same question. I sense your desire not to return to Clone Island.} He didn't respond, but she knew she was right. {The three of us can find a place together.}  
  
{Together?} he seemed surprised that she wanted to be with him.  
  
{Yes, together,} she echoed. {We don't have to be alone any more. We are a family.}  
  
The End 


End file.
